5 minute read
Ten Riddles
Interview with début author Loris Owen (OB) • The Ten Riddles of Eartha Quicksmith
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Olivia Clements (OB 09–16) was part of the BGS Literary Events Committee between 2013–16. Now a bookseller for Max Minerva’s Bookshop, and Waterstones, she here interviews author Loris Owen (OB 89–92) about her children’s fantasy series début, The Ten Riddles of Eartha Quicksmith (Firefly Press).
How did Ten Riddles come about? Have you always written?
My earliest writing memory is hearing my stories read out in primary school in Harare (Zimbabwe) and that really was momentous for a nine-year-old who loved to invent worlds. My pen’s never really run out of ink since then – poetry, screenplays, short stories, and now novels!
In 2015 my mum offered me the idea of a secret school for inventors. Stories evolve, and Ten Riddles is very different now from that original spark, but there are still oodles of secrets and madcap inventions.
Family is very important in Ten Riddles. Has this migrated across from your own life?
Absolutely! My partner has two boys, so I wanted to write something for kids. All writers are influenced by the people around them, and writing for children really helped me see through my stepsons’ eyes a bit better.
And did they enjoy it?
They did! Albert, one of the main characters, is based on them. They were both like dynamos at the time and have a great sense of humour, so he was the easiest to write.
I was struck by your vivid characters. As a bookseller, I’ve noticed that children’s fiction is diversifying massively. It’s lovely to see a range of children in Ten Riddles who are different from the crowd and are heroes in a nontraditional sense.
Someone once told me that writing, especially for children, is ‘trying on different lives’. And I think it’s so important that children are offered a wide range of stories to try on, so they can think ‘Am I like this person, or do I recognise myself in this character?’ Now they’re being given a lot more to learn from, and this helps them figure out who they are. And I wanted to avoid stereotypes, so while Kip, the protagonist, and his friends are puzzle geeks, they’re also outdoorsy and funny and brave, not just the classic action hero or the closeted genius who hides behind a laptop.
Puzzles are such a key feature of Ten Riddles: have you always been interested in them?
Mysteries, codes and puzzles are my brain candy. My dad taught me to do cryptic crosswords and to ‘think sideways’, which is a phrase I’ve worked into the book. Having so many riddles made editing hard – moving any scene was a major headache, as each riddle put out roots that needed to be carefully removed, replanted and rethreaded into the plot. My flat was covered in post-it notes, like the lair of someone hunting a serial killer!
I was in awe of the amazing world-building of Ten Riddles; how did you create such a wonderful setting for Quicksmiths College without straying into Hogwarts territory?
Thank you! It didn’t really occur to me while I was writing, because there were so many ideas in my head. But I think it’s OK to stand on the shoulders of giants (or should that be ‘on the roofs of secret schools’?)!
People like finding just enough familiarity within stories to make the new things interesting; as human beings, we’re curious … but we also want to feel safe. The school and the people there are just familiar enough to allow the novelty to shine through.
Did BGS influence your worldbuilding?
Quicksmiths is probably an amalgam of BGS and Clare College Cambridge, where I read English.
I’m fascinated by time-honoured school campuses, with high-tech science buildings jammed in next to ancient libraries full of historic ritual. With BGS, you could sense the age of the place and it was full of intriguing little corners that were so inspiring to the imagination. It’s easy to imagine Eartha Quicksmith hunched over some apparatus in a BGS classroom 400 years ago.
And – while they don’t appear in Ten Riddles – my BGS English teachers, David Selwyn and Roland Clare, really nurtured my love of books. Roland also helped me with early edits of Ten Riddles.
After creating such fresh and inspiring young characters, what do you hope your readers will take from Ten Riddles?
I think the main mantra would be ‘Change Your World’. It’s intimidating to expect anyone, especially a child, to change the world: but you can try to change yours. Even if it’s just a tiny thing, it can really influence the people around you, and maybe make their worlds better too.
Finally, Ten Riddles was recently highlighted in The Guardian as one of the best children’s books of 2020, chosen by someone in my own trade! How does it feel, knowing so many people are loving your work?
It’s really not sunk in yet that my novel’s been chosen out of the avalanche of great books that came out in 2020. I think Today Me is going to telephone Three-Years-Ago Me and say ‘don’t give up!’
Interview © Olivia Clements, December 2020, Bristol
The Ten Riddles of Eartha Quicksmith by Loris Owen is now available (£6.99) through most bookshops, although Olivia would recommend getting it from Max Minerva’s Bookshop, Henleaze, BS6 7PY!
Ordering online is available through www.maxminervas.co.uk
“I gained so much from BGS - great friends, confidence and a love
