D.T. Moorhouse joins Ian Eagleton in The Reading Realm today to talk about his new children’s book GREBS & CO…

Before we settle down in The Reading Realm for a chat, what’s your drink and snack of choice?

My taste in drinks is pretty basic so it’s just water or a glass of fresh orange juice on that front. Snacks-wise it has to be biscuits, crisps or crackers. I could live without any other food but always need a hefty supply of these in the cupboard!

Tell us about your book in three sentences and then three words!

A young girl called Alice discovers that the postbox at the end of her street is home to more than just letters. In fact, it’s home to a society of gremlins who are responsible for sorting and delivering mail. When their home comes under threat, Alice launches a campaign to help them save it.

In three words: Gremlins, Magic, Mystery.

If one of your characters could come to dinner, who would you invite and what would you cook them? What do you think you’d talk about?

It would have to be Grebson, the Proud and Punctual Chief Letter Commander of the postbox on Muddlesworth Lane. And I wouldn’t have to cook much. He’s a gremlin who survives mostly on biscuits, raisins, and whatever other scraps he can get his hands on. But I would be sure to make him a tasty dessert! I think our conversations would be mostly about letters, postboxes and whether or not he should grow a moustache (you’ll have to wait and see if there’s a sequel to find out whether he does grow one or not!)

What’s the funniest word you know that always makes you laugh?

It’s one I discovered recently, while researching old and forgotten words for a new book I’ve written: “Quockerwodger.” It’s just really fun to say!

What’s the silliest or strangest thing you’ve ever researched for a story?

None of my research has ever been silly or strange- unless of course you count mysterious gremlins, winking lampposts, a deputy principal that happens to be a hamster or an ancient creature that quite literally eats words. All totally sensible, right?

Do your characters ever surprise you?

Yes, all the time! They often creep into my mind doing things that I didn’t set out for them to do.

If your writing desk could speak, what would it say about you?

It would say that, apart from the scattered piles of books on it, I’m quite organised and always very sensible. I hope!

Did you like reading when you were a child? If so, what?

Absolutely! I read the obvious one of Harry Potter, which got me hooked on reading but then it was Darren Shan’s books that really made me fall in love with reading and made me want to be an author one day. Growing up I also loved James Patterson’s Maximum Ride and Daniel X series’, as well as The Spiderwick Chronicles, A Series of Unfortunate Events and the Spooks books by Joseph Delaney.

What’s your favourite book that isn’t yours?

I read Space Oddity by Christopher Edge last year and absolutely fell in love with it. It is the perfect kind of children’s book that I wish I’d written.

What book do you wish you could read for the first time again?

It would have to be Allies of the Night, book 8 of The Saga of Darren Shan. For some reason out of all of Darren Shan’s books that one has remained my favourite for over 20 years.

What’s the funniest thing a child has said to you?

I worked as a teacher for nearly 10 years so it’s impossible to narrow it down but the one that comes to mind is probably far too rude to share…

If you weren’t an author, what would you be?

I’ve been a teacher and loved that, so probably that. But I also wanted to be a chef at one stage when I was younger, so that would be fun too.

What BAD advice would you give to someone who wants to be a writer?

Take everything literally, don’t ever have fun, and whatever you do don’t ever ever use your imagination!

SPEED ROUND:

Cake or biscuits? Biscuits!

Dinosaurs or unicorns? Dinosaurs definitely.

Pirates or astronauts? Astronauts at the moment as I’m currently writing a story about them.

Museums or theme parks? Theme parks.

Cats or dogs? Dogs.

Summer or winter? Winter. I hate being too warm.

Aliens or robots? Aliens. They’re more fun.

THANK YOU for joining us in The Reading Realm today!

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