SF Said is one of Britain’s best young writers and has judged the Whitbread Children’s Book Award.
We have talked to him about his new novel Phoenix.
Q: Tell us a bit about your latest book, Phoenix.
It’s an epic space adventure for readers of 9 and up. I’ve made it as readable and accessible as possible for children, but I hope adults will enjoy it too. It’s set in a galaxy where humans and aliens are at war. The main characters are a human boy called Lucky, who has strange dreams about the stars, and an alien girl called Bixa, who’s the fiercest warrior in the galaxy. And together, of course, they have to save the galaxy…
Q: Where did you get the inspiration for this story?
I’ve always loved space stories. As a kid in the 1970s, Star Wars and Star Trek were huge inspirations for me; then growing up, I loved many classic SF authors: Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C Clarke, Frank Herbert and so on. I find it amazing that no-one has yet done a big space story for young readers; we’ve had lots of fantasy and dystopian SF, but somehow space remains unexplored territory in children’s and YA fiction. I hope Phoenix will change this!
Q: Can you give us an insight into your main character Lucky? What is it that makes him special?
I don’t want to give too much of the story away, but let’s just say he has some strange abilities that grow stranger as the book goes on… But in some ways, there’s nothing special about him at all. He’s just an ordinary boy who has to deal with extraordinary things.
Q: What was the hardest thing about writing the book?
Everything! It took 7 years and 13 drafts to get this book right. I always do a lot of drafts – my first book Varjak Paw took 5 years – but this one required ridiculous amounts of perseverance. I’m glad I kept going, though; I feel the end result is worth all the hard work.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about the collaboration with Dave McKean?
Collaborating with Dave McKean is amazing! His illustrations aren’t just illustrations; they’re a crucial part of the storytelling. They’re so powerful, they make you feel like you’re actually in space when you read the book. We were trying to make a Varjak Paw film during the writing of Phoenix, and during this process, we talked a lot about it, so he brought a great deal to it.
Q: There is a great Youtube trailer for the book. How do you think this and other social media play a role in marketing the book?
Thank you! I love the YouTube trailer; I think it gives a really strong sense of the book’s atmosphere, and is a beautiful film in its own right. I hope people will watch it, share it, and want to read the book; I’m certainly in favour of anything that helps it get out there!
Q: How do you organise your writing?
I work every day, usually in a library, as I’m not disciplined enough to work at home! I don’t think you can wait around for inspiration; you have to show up every day, and treat it like a job. If you get something done every day, pages begin to stack up in a surprisingly short amount of time.
Q: What is the hardest thing about writing?
I find the later drafts the hardest: when you’ve got something that’s already very good, but you have to get rid of it, because there might be something even better out there. My editor David Fickling believes you can’t stop trying to improve a book until it’s as good as it can possibly be. This is the main reason why my books take me so long to write! But I hope it also means each book is as good as it possibly can be…
Q: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors.
I read a lot, and I have many favourite authors. A few of them are Ursula Le Guin, Philip Pullman, Virginia Woolf, Rudyard Kipling, Philip K Dick… The last book I read was The Female Man, by Joanna Russ – amazing stuff!
Q: What’s next?
I’m currently on the 2nd draft of a story about magic, set in a fantasy world. The working title is TYGER. I hope this one won’t take 7 years!
