Ep. 80 Read Aloud Zoom In: Malamander with Author Thomas Taylor
How to reach Thomas Taylor:
Malamander Series:
Malamander Book One
Gargantus Book Two
Shadowghast Book Three
Festergrimm Book Four
Book Five coming soon!
Transcript:
Melissa Milner 0:09
Welcome to The Teacher As... Podcast. I'm your host Melissa Milner, a teacher who is painfully curious and very easily inspired. This podcast is ever changing. And I hope with each season, you find episodes that speak to you in your work as an educator. This is the fourth season of The Teacher As... and it's exciting to see the growth in how many educators are listening. Episodes are released every other week. If you enjoy The Teacher As..., please rate it on Apple podcast and leave a review. It helps the podcast reach more educators. Thanks for listening.
Melissa Milner 0:42
I am thrilled to have Thomas Taylor here on The Teacher As... Welcome to The Teacher As... Thomas.
Thomas Taylor 0:48
Hello, thank you for inviting me on.
Melissa Milner 0:51
Do you prefer Tom? Thomas?
Thomas Taylor 0:53
I get both. So I don't mind either.
Melissa Milner 0:55
Okay. Well, I'm thrilled to have you. It is quite an honor to have the author of the book that my students yell at me when I try to stop reading it. They yell, "NOOO!" in unison, so...so Malamander is a fantastic book. So I wanted to start by you, because this is for teachers to hopefully want to read this aloud to their students. But I think it's also great to talk about you as a writer, and and helping teachers know how to inspire kids to write these types of amazing characters, and fun plots and mystery and science fiction and fantasy. I mean, your book is kind of all of it. Let us know about you and how you got started. And why Malamander?
Thomas Taylor 1:45
Yeah, so I mean, I started out as an illustrator. And my career began a long time ago. In fact, I was I left art school in 95. So I and I went almost straight into illustrating children's books. So I had a whole career in picture books for up until about 2007. But at which point, it was pretty clear that I really wanted to write. I was already writing the picture books as well as illustrating them, but I was I really wanted to explore language. And it was not enough 500 words on a 12 spread format wasn't enough. So I began trying to write fiction. And after a brief, perhaps not so brief foray into YA, which turned out not to suit me at all, I kind of came back to the drawing board, as it were, the writing board and then realized everything I'd written in the YA books, only one of which was public, that was the strongest was basically middle grade in tone. It was basically, for a slightly different sub genre of children's literature. And I... when I actually realized that and went back and started writing something purely for that age range, it really worked. And at the time, I was living, I used to live in France, but come back to the UK and I was living in this seaside town, which I didn't really know. And, but loved being by the sea, and I was able to be there all year round. So I was able to see what it's like in the winter, because in the in the UK, we have a lot of a lot of strong culture of going to the seaside in the summer. The weather's always really bad anyway. But there isn't such a strong idea about what it's like in the winter. And so I was there all year round. And I could see how very odd it is in the winter. How the weather is very strange. How there's hardly anyone there, just the locals, but the people who are there, they've all got interesting stories. Anyone who does come then at that time of year has come through a really good reason, or maybe a really bad reason. And, and it just lends itself to being a great backdrop for mystery stories. So very quick, quickly, while I was having this idea that I should be writing middle grade, I also had had material for a story. And that's how Malamander grew. It grew out of the world I had around me and about actual things I found on the beach, basically beach combing. And I just grew the story walking on the beach every day until eventually it was finished and then published.
Melissa Milner 4:06
That's amazing. When you wrote it, did you have any idea that you were going to end up having to write well, enjoying having to write sequels?
Thomas Taylor 4:15
So no, when I first I'd actually told people I'd given up writing because my experience trying to make a go of YA was so bad that. Yeah, I told everybody I was going back to illustration. I had illustration work. I was writing you almost in the secret. I was writing in the background. My wife, I told my wife, don't worry, I'm not going to write anymore. Because she you know, she'd see what it was like. So I was writing in secret. And it was only when my agent called me and said, "Do you have anything else on the go because you're finishing this bigger, this big graphic novel project." And I was finishing it and she said, "You ought to sort of generate something," and I said, "Well, I have been writing this book, even though I said I stopped writing." And so she... she asked to see the first few chapters and got very excited about it. And so she told me to stop everything else and just finish this book.
Melissa Milner 5:07
She's very, very smart. She's very, very smart. I think both doesn't Boat Hook Man show up in very beginning there within the first three chapters?
Thomas Taylor 5:16
I sent her nine chapters, so she had all the way up to meeting Sebastian Eels in the bookshop.
Melissa Milner 5:21
Oh my gosh! Yeah!
Thomas Taylor 5:24
She was very excited about it. And that was that was very, very, very, very good. And it I haven't really am I've lost track of, I lost my own sense of my own writing, I suppose. But I didn't really know it was any good or not. Or even if I was gonna show it to anybody. I was just trying for almost for my own satisfaction to prove I could write a book and was just going through the motions, really. So then, when it was published, and it was the subject of an auction between eight publishers, very quickly, they said, Well, how many? It became a question, how many more books could you write? And quite early on, I kind of hit on the idea that five would be a nice number. Because it is nice number. Three I think's fine. But I knew that there was probably more material here than for a trilogy.
Melissa Milner 6:09
Did you have to change the ending? Once they asked you that?
Thomas Taylor 6:12
Well, the thing is, originally because of the auction, the auction resulted in a three book deal. So there was an assumption from a lot of people that was going to be a trilogy. But then when I was writing that third book, it was quite clear that I wasn't ending anything. And so that became another conversation. Well, what's you know, what's going on? Why isn't this book, you know, the resolution? And I said, Well, the thing is, I got two more ideas coming up. So we talked about that. And so in the end, they gave me an extension to the contract. And we did have to talk a lot about the the content of book five. And the ending, because there is this the first book introduces some questions aren't resolved at the end of the book. And they won't be resolved until Book five, they'll become a subject of the story in book five,
Melissa Milner 6:55
Is that Violet's parents or Herbie's parents?
Thomas Taylor 6:57
Violet's parents and Herbie, where he comes from. The questions, I don't want to spoil book one too much, but you don't quite get that resolution in that book. And that's deliberate so the books in between will then be separate stories, but they will sort of these questions take over, but you don't really get any resolution. And so the last book is all about that. And I had to sell that to the publishers basically, before I'd written it. And I was still working on Book Three, I was having to explain book five, which is a bit difficult.
Melissa Milner 7:25
Yeah. Wow. But you had this whole vision. And you like as you were doing it, you're getting new ideas for new books. That's, that's just fascinating. And you you wanted them to be those same characters. Like you could have stopped at the three book and started a new... You know how people do that they start a new series under the Malamander Chronicles, or whatever. And you start a new series, you certainly could have done that. But no, I love that it's just boom. Is that your dog?
Thomas Taylor 7:54
I'm not sure. I think my dog might be trying to join us. We'll find out in a minute. But it's true. And I couldn't have done that. And also the whole thing is set from the point of view of Herbie, the main character, so you only ever see what Herbie sees and actually that gets quite tiring after a while.
Melissa Milner 8:10
I bet. Like, wait, how am I going to get this ncorporated?
Thomas Taylor 8:14
Yeah.
Melissa Milner 8:15
Right. The the mystery's hard.
Thomas Taylor 8:17
You never have a moment when you're with the other characters alone. Herbie has to be there. And so Herbie is not the only main character, there are two main characters. The other one is Violet. But you never see anything from Violet's point of view. And that became frustrating. After a while, I thought I'd like to be inside Violet's head for a bit, but I'd set myself on this track where that wasn't likely to happen. And so...
Melissa Milner 8:39
So, you couldn't switch and have one of the books be from Violet's point of view?
Thomas Taylor 8:42
Well, I could have done. I could have done and I think some people do try and do that, but I'm not sure. I think readers will say once they've latched on to something they like, they like to stick with that voice, and Herbie's voice is very distinctive.
Melissa Milner 8:53
It is.
Thomas Taylor 8:55
So in the end, I had to really make sure Violet was constantly boosted. So she wasn't a secondary character. It's very important that she's one of the main characters.
Melissa Milner 9:03
She absolutely is. You did a good job with that. I will tell you. Yeah, because the kids I'm like, who's the main character? We've had that discussion while we're doing the read aloud and they're like, well, Violet's really important and but but Herbie's telling the story, but Violet's there wouldn't be a story without Violet. So like, they're really, they're really they're getting into deep conversations about it. They also the Sci Fi piece of it is so fascinating. They really are digging it. They're like, maybe he went back in time before they knew what had happened not to give anything away with Boat Hook Man. They're just Boat Hook Man's their favorite character.
Thomas Taylor 9:41
Oh okay.
Melissa Milner 9:41
Yeah, they just are they love him and they love his little arc. You know what happened. Oh, he's not really a bad guy. It's just that you know them going through that whole thing of he's a bad guy to oh, wait a minute and finding out what happened to him and not... again, not to give anything away. I should do a spoiler alert at the beginning of this. It's just fantastic. So why didn't you illustrate the book?
Thomas Taylor 10:09
Well, that's a good question. So I mean, most of my of my illustration career was picture books for different age groups. So that the work I've done most was a bit too young really, for this. But I had done some, some some book covers. And so when it came to it, though, I was so out of touch with it. So rusty, basically. And when I worked on that kind of thing last it was mostly in with old fashioned traditional methods of paint on paper, and pen and ink. And I'm not really I mean, I have sort of made the jump to digital but only partially, I haven't quite got there. Whereas most book covers now are entirely done on Procreate or something similar. And it's, it's, it's created in a way that can be changed very quickly. And it's done very, very quickly. And there's a committee who sits in oversee as well. And it's very, very, very important to get it right. And I'm just not in that headspace at all. And I had to revise the book, I had to do black and white drawings from the inside, taking on the cover as well was just too much. And they had somebody the publisher had somebody already to go. And in the US.
Melissa Milner 11:19
You did sketches to give the illustrator I like what you're going for, is that what you did?
Thomas Taylor 11:25
Well, sort of. So is different in the UK to the US or the UK book. Someone else did the cover, but I did all these little drawings inside, but they're very small, they're just chapter heading drawings. Whereas in the US, the publishers in the US wanted it to be quite heavily illustrated. And so they got Tom Booth to, to do the illustrations, and he's just just brilliant. I mean, you will, you will have seen these. So they are fantastic. And what what what I find really great about them is that he's absolutely caught the his style matches the tone of the story really well.
Melissa Milner 11:59
They're amazing.
Thomas Taylor 12:01
But I would never have wanted to do this much illustration work. I kind of burnt out as an illustrator and so the idea of drawing this much was a bit intimidating. So I'm really, really proud to have him on board for the US editions. But it's the end is not the same in the UK, there are different a different look.
Melissa Milner 12:18
I came upon the book, what do you call it when it's the copy that's not finished yet?
Thomas Taylor 12:22
Advanced Reader Copy or proof in the UK.
Melissa Milner 12:25
That's it. So I was at our local bookstore right near where I teach, shout out for Whitelam books in Reading, Massachusetts, they said, "Oh, we have all these advanced copies, we don't need any more. So go through." And I'm going through and I will tell you, the cover caught me. And then I read on the back and I was hooked. I'm like, I'm taking this one. And I read it like in like two nights like I read it when I got home. And then I like finished it the next night, I couldn't put it down. And then I walked in the classroom the next day and started reading it to my students. They were I was teaching third, third grade at the time. And it was a huge hit. And the other teachers and assistants and paraprofessionals were like, "Can I take a copy home and finish it because I want to know what happens." They were like, I'm not in the classroom tomorrow. And I don't want to miss it. So it's like for a good age range, I think. This year also loving it. I think it's really like a third, fourth, fifth grade, as far as a read aloud. And then 6th, 7th, 8th, they could just read it, obviously, especially since it's now a series, they can get through it pretty quickly. But can you tell us about... I saw that you are helping to adapt the screenplay, that you're helping to adapt the book into a movie screenplay. Is that true?
Thomas Taylor 13:46
Well, this is a bit awkward. So there have been there has been a film deal in place. And it has been a script developed. That's not proceeding that didn't survive. COVID Basically, it by the time COVID was over, it was kind of dead.
Melissa Milner 14:02
Oh, they totally, they totally need to do the movie. And it needs to be all five, it would actually make a better like a streaming show because then you're not limited to that hour and a half movie.
Thomas Taylor 14:15
I think there's enough material here for a TV show. I think one of the problems during the lockdown period is there was suddenly doubt over whether there was even going to be a movie going culture after COVID. That so many cinemas shut down. And intention had been to make a big family movie. And so suddenly no one knows what's going on. So that I think that was a bit undermining for the whole project. But I can talk a bit about what what I do when I go into schools. So I think visit schools might be a fun. I mean, I'm going to school tomorrow. I mean, I'll be going to three next week. So I do visit schools a lot in the UK and the book has found a lot of readers at schools in the UK. It's a very popular class reader. Just just for reading for pleasure. So it's not really... doesn't really fit the curriculum in any way. It just it is for reading for pleasure. And that's really why I wanted to write it. I want to encourage the love of reading among young people. I come...when I go into schools, I bring props. I have a lot of bits and pieces to ship as much as I can. I'm going tomorrow. Really?
Melissa Milner 15:22
Let me take some pictures. I want to take some pictures Hold on.
Melissa Milner 15:26
Well, I'd well do I would wear it... I suppose I do. But the point is, I don't think authors should go into schools and stand up and read at the children. And personally I'm not very good at reading my own text. So I try and talk about everything but the book I'm talking about all the ideas that will produce a prop so for example, this is...
Melissa Milner 15:44
Mr. Mollusc, no Herbie.
Thomas Taylor 15:46
Herbie Lemon's, lost and founders cap that has traveled very, very well. It's falling apart actually. Didn't mean to the US didn't come to the US with me when I went to to America. For a book tour.
Melissa Milner 15:59
I love the L and the F for Lost and Founders. Oh my gosh.
Thomas Taylor 16:03
So I always have a volunteer with this, and then the last of the founder for the whole session. And then I have beach comb things I found fossils, a dinosaur bone I found on the beach, a dinosaur poo, with like the copralite. And then there are things like that. And I make sure it's very tactile, I pass things around. And people get to try on the hat. And it's just a lot of fun. And I find that that's gone down really well in schools in the UK. And so I'm I'm very pleased to find that and this next week coming up is World Book Day where the world booked in the same way in the US but, so normally a World Book Day, there are some children who dress up as Herbie and Violet, which is for me just the best thing. That's like the best accolade there can be it's someone dressing up as characters from my book.
Melissa Milner 16:55
Oh, that's wonderful.
Thomas Taylor 16:57
We'll find out this week if anyone else is doing that?
Melissa Milner 16:59
Yeah, absolutely. It's funny, because you mentioned while it doesn't really fit into the curriculum, like the content of the curriculum, however, it does fit under genre, because it's one of those books that has multiple genres in it. The kids are like you said, this was a fantasy, but it's a mystery. I said, Well, it's both you know, it's sci fi. It's, you know, fantasy, mythical, all that. And then it's also I mean, it's kind of, I find it to be humorous, too. So even the genre of humor is in there with Herbie and, and a whole bunch of things that happen actually, in the book are kind of humorous. So...
Thomas Taylor 17:42
Yeah, I mean, I'm very, very deliberately, I'm trying to write the funniest books I can without them being called funny books. But that's...
Melissa Milner 17:48
Exactly.
Thomas Taylor 17:49
The trick, really.
Melissa Milner 17:50
Yeah. So when you were a kid, is this the type of book you liked?
Thomas Taylor 17:54
Yeah, I think so. I mean, there's that old cliche, but authors writing... writing the sorts of stuff they would have wanted to read when they were young. And I'm that is what I'm doing, really. So I mean, when I was a child, I loved The Three Investigators. I always forget the name of the author, but they were always published under the name of Alfred Hitchcock. So a famous name, but he didn't write them, he lent his name to them. I mean this goes back a bit. I think they were published the day from the US, but I think they were from the 60s. And they were three, three kids who lived in a junkyard, and they didn't live in the junkyard, they made it a den there. And they solve crime. And I just loved these. And it was the first time that I found books that I really wanted to read. And that's why I can recall them because they were the first books I would grab and read on my own. And that sense of finding the book you love. And becoming a reader is an important thing I try to... well, I mean, it's so subjective, isn't it? But I tried to and that's what I'm thinking about when I'm writing my stories. I want some, some kids somethere to like my books so much that they'll go home and keep reading it even when they're not told to that's what I'm aiming at.
Melissa Milner 19:03
Well, they're doing it, I'll tell you. Very much so. And I think I saw a picture you were I don't know why what was it Korea or... no. Where were you?
Thomas Taylor 19:14
Oh, in December, I went to Turkey in December.
Melissa Milner 19:17
Turkey, that's where it was.
Thomas Taylor 19:19
The book was really, really popular in Turkey. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's incredible. And I had, I think the biggest signing events I've ever had was actually in Istanbul, and it was three and a half hours. The queue just carried on it just was amazing.
Melissa Milner 19:34
That's incredible. They're all standing there with their books. That was a great picture. I saw that. Yeah, that's amazing. I I find that the kids...as a teacher, I appreciate your book because the characters are so well defined that because I act the books when I read aloud I act and so they're very well defined. And so I'm able to very easily slip in and out of characters because there's so there's so well done you know, so the Mr. Mollusc compared to Herbie compared to Lady Kraken, you know, and then I picture I will admit, I picture different actors.
Thomas Taylor 20:17
Okay
Melissa Milner 20:17
Playing the parts.
Thomas Taylor 20:19
I think I mean, I wrote it, and I've got a very visual imagination, so I do tend to see everything before I write it. So I'm trying to describe what I see in my head. So I think it's written in a way that is very pictorial. It's very image led. Yes, I still think Hugh Grant should be Sebastian Eels, but you know, I don't get to decide these things.
Melissa Milner 20:43
What's your advice to teachers to help whatever story they want to tell to help teachers to help kids get those stories down, create interesting characters create a beginning, middle and end plot, but like that rising action and the character trying something, and you know, all of that angst that a character goes through to finally get to the climax? Like, what's your advice for teachers?
Thomas Taylor 21:12
Yeah, that's tricky. And I don't feel I should be giving advice, particularly because it's, I'm not in the slightest bit trained to, to deal with kids in the classroom. And I see, I see when I go into schools, what I see, see how hard they work...so
Melissa Milner 21:25
But what do you feel is most important?
Thomas Taylor 21:27
Yeah, I think as a writer, I mean, I'm known for writing very short chapters, that end on a on a hook, so that it's very hard to say that's enough. Now I'm going to stop. I want people to just turn again, and just read it. And then it's a short chapter again. And so that is just a small technique, but it helps to keep, it helps to keep the reader kind of locked in to just read a bit more just a bit more.
Melissa Milner 21:52
That's why they yell when I close the book.
Thomas Taylor 21:56
So I'm doing that. But I'm also very conscious that you can't, this is quite tricky to do. But you have to the whole the old adage of show "show don't tell" is very important. But you have to let you have to give the reader something to do so rather than just tell the reader what's happening. If if you can think of ways to let the reader work out what's happening often in quite an easy way. So instead of saying, instead of saying "four" you would... you would give the reader "two plus two" and let them work out "four." It can be as easy as that. But because they've done something in their heads as they read it they Oh, okay. Oh, I see. They that invests them a little bit more on the story. They feel like they're doing some didn't consciously feel like they're working, but they feel like they're part of making the story, I think anyway, so I'm often looking at things I can do to make the reader feel like they're helping to tell the story. They're almost this is what I mean.
Melissa Milner 22:51
Yeah, absolutely. To cause them to have to infer not telling them everything. Yeah. It doesn't mean it has to be a mystery book. It can just be simply why is this girl coming to his window in the middle of a snow? You know, we don't know why she's there yet. And then when she comes in and it describes her, then we can be like, Oh, well, maybe she's there because of like, kids can be predicting why maybe she's there. It allows the kids to be working. Yeah.
Thomas Taylor 23:18
And lots of lots of classes in the UK. Certainly they they use the text to to make to make predictions. So that's one of the projects that set they they read a certain amount and then they sit down have to predict what will happen next and that seems to be a very popular exercise but it can I haven't really thought that myself but this seems to be a thing that goes down really well in the classroom.
Melissa Milner 23:42
It does it does. They do a lot of predicting they do a lot they they take like my class this year, because they're a little older than the last time I read it with my third graders my class this year they're like well in other movies they do this and this and this so maybe it'll be this or in this book I read so they do like a text to text connection and say well maybe he's doing that because when he well I don't want to give anything away but they were really like they were obsessed with Boat Hook Man and figuring out what was going on with Boat Hook Man because in the beginning and this is the thing in the beginning you have him say something that is very like the about freedom and the kids are like what why would a little girl be giving him free like why is he saying that and that sent them off all whole bunch and you don't really find out till kind of later when she gets the book from the from the book dispensary and then sees what Yeah, so it's very they love the book dispensary and the monkey thing too, by the way.
Thomas Taylor 24:46
Okay, yeah.
Melissa Milner 24:48
Loved it. And that's very deep by the way. It gives you the book, the book is choosing you like that's huge about being a reader, you know, finding the book that's right for you. You and so we had a big discussion about that. Your book is just rich with all kinds of stuff like that. Really great. Really great. And um, oh, and also, I mean, Violet is, is an African American girl. So you have a nice strong female character there who really gives Herbie a run for his money.
Thomas Taylor 25:22
Yeah, like you said earlier, there would be no story if Violet didn't come. I mean, Herbie, he's... Herbies, based on me when I was when I was a boy. So Herbie is a bit, he's not quite adventurous enough to quite have adventures on his own. Whereas Violet's too much she's on her own, she probably had too much adventure and get into a bit of a pickle, but getting together and they complement each other really well.
Melissa Milner 25:46
Yes. And I did a compare and contrast with the kids because I knew they were going to say they had nothing in common. And, and one kid raised their hand and said, Well, what about their parents? They both don't they both have identity issues. Like, there you go, you know? So the kids get stuff like that. They really do. They really do.
Thomas Taylor 26:06
It is an eye opener going into school and talking about even my own book, and they reflect back things to me, which I haven't actually thought... I have to think on my feet as I answered the question. That's really awkward, for example.
Melissa Milner 26:18
Yeah. Yeah. And theme like I asked the kids, what's the theme of this book so far? You know, what do you think the theme is? And, you know, one kid said identity, which I thought was really cool, because of them not knowing their identity. But then some of them said, what was one of them that was like, be careful what you wish for, because of the whole living forever? And you know, and then the curse and the, you know, all that stuff. So don't... be careful what you wish for was a really cool one. Friendship, you know, you know, some of the regular ones. But then there were a couple, I don't remember the other ones. But so your book brings out a lot of different things, a lot of different themes. Did you have a theme in mind when you were writing it or you just wanted to tell a fun story?
Thomas Taylor 27:02
Friendship... friendship's very important. I like to write about friendship, but it's things being lost and things being found is the theme I was writing about. So it's, it's an experience as a beachcomber of finding a thing on the beach that is, is beautiful and strange in its own right. But you can tell it used to be something else that somebody else view as, as that's something else that was then lost and then changed by the tide, and now found again, and now it's a treasure. So an old glass bottle, thrown away, it's a piece of trash 60 years ago, is smashed by the sea, churned in the tide, and then it could be 60 years. And then it's you walk along, and you find a pebble made of glass glowing in the sand, and that's a gem. And that's the thing you pick up and treasure, but the thing itself, where it comes from, was trash that was thrown away by a different generation, and you have no way of knowing who threw it away. And they had no way of knowing that you would pick it up when there's a treasure. And all those sorts of thoughts are, are what drove the story.
Melissa Milner 27:57
It's great. Yeah. And then the other ideas of loss, whereas you know, now these two, the two different kids who are lost as far as not having their parents and trying to find...
Thomas Taylor 28:10
And they are they found each other but they haven't found themselves yet. And that's the driver.
Melissa Milner 28:17
Yeah. Oh, that's so great. That's so awesome. Wow. Well, this was this is great. I don't want to take up any more of your time. But was there anything else you wanted to talk about? Or plug?
Thomas Taylor 28:28
Oh, I'm not really in. The fifth book is coming out in September. So I hope people will will find that. And the right time that's in the UK, though. I'm not quite sure in US. It's possibly the year after, actually. The fourth book isn't out in the US until April. So there is a slight delay there. Yeah, Festergrimr, book number four isn't out yet.
Melissa Milner 28:50
I have. I have the fourth book. Yeah, I have all four.
Thomas Taylor 28:54
Oh ok. Well they haven't sent me one yet. Well, that's good. I'm glad it's out.
Melissa Milner 29:01
The author doesn't have one. Yeah, no, I have all four. But yeah, I'm waiting for that fifth one. Is there anything you're like really zooming in on right now? Is it just finishing? Are you still doing the edits for the fifth book?
Thomas Taylor 29:18
I am still editing the fifth book but just finished the second draft. So I think it's kind of there. So it's quite a hard one to write actually, because there's a lot a lot to tie up. And there are some eye opening things in it as well I have to get those right. But I'm also trying to refine a new idea so I have a new a new thing I want to work on. I've started working on it, but it's very much it's slightly exploratory I'm trying to find out if it's really...
Melissa Milner 29:44
Is it still for kids?
Thomas Taylor 29:45
Oh yeah, it is. It's basically it's not Eerie on Sea and Herbie and Violet, but it's the same type of book in a kind of broader universe. So if you if you wonder where creatures like the Malamander came from, then you might find out where could where maybe it did come from in this? Yeah. I mean, so it's different, but it's the same
Melissa Milner 30:06
Different world but same universe.
Thomas Taylor 30:08
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Melissa Milner 30:10
Yeah. Oh, wow. Well, that's, I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait. But that's down the road a little bit, because you're still finishing the fifth book.
Thomas Taylor 30:19
Yeah, I need to concentrate. This year has to be about the fifth book, really, There's a lot of promotion coming up and things to do.
Melissa Milner 30:26
Yeah, that's so great. Well, I'm sure everybody listening, just trust me, get all the books, read the first one. And then your kids will be fighting over the the other ones, to... Yeah, I always read the first one. And then make sure I have copies of the rest of the series type of thing. But I think I might have to get more. And I just just one more thing, because usually, when we have author visits, we always ask the authors to talk about the value of editing, the never feeling like you're done, always knowing you could make it better. Do you have any message that you want teachers to know about that?
Thomas Taylor 31:04
I mean, it's very, the point about it's never done is the whole editing process is quite painful, because it comes a point where you can feel a manuscript being taken away from you. And it's sliding away. And you know, you look at the date you knew, and you know that that window is closing to make changes. But every time it comes back with a query, I find myself making changes, there comes that moment when it's gone, and you can no longer change anything. And then I don't usually read my own books. But for this fifth one, I had to go back and look at the previous books and read parts of them. And I keep finding things I want to change. But of course, you can't do that anymore. So you have to learn how to let things go, and how to sort of decide something's finished, even when, as you say, it's never really finished. And you could go on revising forever, but you shouldn't go on revising forever, that'd be really bad. So you have to let it go. And, and that's an important part of the editing process. And it does have an end and you are then done. And the other thing that's important is you do need that other pair of eyes, that other mind, that other reader to come and look at what you've done. Because you get so wrapped up, especially if it's a novel, and it's 70,000 words, and you've been sunk it for months, you need someone to come along and tell you if it works, you know, or if it makes sense. And because you you see everything you see even the things you haven't put on the page, you still know all that stuff. And you forget what you have told people, what you've told the reader might be not enough. But you don't know that until an editor comes along and tells you that. So that's a key part of editing.
Melissa Milner 32:34
That's so important. And like in the classroom that would look like peer editing, and of course, maybe a teacher, you know, just giving ideas here and there. Thank you so much. Not every author would do this, by the way.
Thomas Taylor 32:47
Thank you, Melissa. It's been... it's been good. Thank you, Cheerio.
Melissa Milner 32:51
For my blog, transcripts of this episode, and links to any resources mentioned, visit my website at www.theteacheras.com. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @melissabmilner and I hope you check out The Teacher As... Facebook page for episode updates. Thanks for listening. And that's a wrap.