TALK: Anna Wilson

Anna Wilson is a children's author from Bradford-on-Avon in the UK, where she lives with her husband, two children, two cats, some chickens and a dog. Her books include I'm a Chicken, Get Me Out of Here!, The Poodle Problem and Pup Idol. Her latest book, Monkey Madness, is out now from Macmillan. She spoke to StoryWorld all about monkeys, writing and kittens...

Tell me about Monkey Madness!

Felix has always wanted to see wild animals, such as lions and elephants, in their natural habitat, so when his dad has to go on a business trip to Africa, the family decide to make the most of it and go on a safari. Felix is over the moon! But his best friend, Flo, is not so over the moon when she finds out she is not coming with them. In fact, she is so cross, she sets Felix an impossible task as a punishment for leaving her behind - he must bring her back a real, live, baby monkey! When Felix protests, Flo simply says, 'If there is no monkey, Felix, then there will be No More Us.' Poor Felix spends the whole holiday trying to work out how he can carry out Flo's impossible request so that they will still be friends on his return.

How did you come up with the idea?

Monkey Madness is the sequel to Monkey Business which I wrote three years ago. Both books were inspired by my son's love of wild animals. When he was seven he was convinced he could have his own zoo in the back garden and he was going to get the animals from Longleat Safari Park, 'because they have too many there already'. That was the basis for Felix and Flo's adventures in Monkey Business! In Monkey Madness Felix, gets to go on a safari to Botswana. The idea for his came from our own family holiday to Botswana. I wrote a diary while I was there and could not help thinking that Felix would have loved to go on a safari too. So I started making notes on the idea for the second book.

What's it like when you get to meet your fans?

It is wonderful! I love to hear which bits of my stories the readers like the most - and which bits they do not like so much! One girl was very concerned about one of my characters in my book I'm A Chicken, Get Me Out of Here! The character is called Meena and she is, well, pretty mean. The reader asked me, 'Does Meena get what's coming to her in the end?' I was able to reassure her that Meena does not get away with being horrible, so thankfully the reader was happy to go on and finish the book and told me she had enjoyed it.

What's your writing process? Do you have a regular time, place, etc?

Writing is my job, and so I treat it like a job - I have a strict routine. I get up, take my son to school, feed the animals (we have a lot of pets!), take the dog for a run, and then crack on with writing. I sit at my desk on the landing in my house which has a lovely view of a huge old beech tree. I find the view is never the same as the sky changes with the weather and the tree changes with the seasons. I can get distracted watching the squirrels fight, but most of the time it's a good place to write.

Are you writing anything at the moment?

I certainly am - I have a crazy deadline for a new book for Macmillan which will be out in the summer. All I can say at the moment is that it features a girl and a kitten and an awful lot of baking . . . Look out for more details on my website later in the year!

Find out more about Anna at www.annawilson.co.uk and follow her on Twitter: @acwilsonwriter. She blogs at http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.co.uk, and you can book her for author visits via http://www.authorsalouduk.co.uk/anna-wilson/. 

Monkey Madness is available in all good bookshops and online: