Richard McCloskey-Wall

Author &Illustrator

Interview By Corinne O' Neill

Corinne: Hi Richard and welcome to World Equal, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Richard: My name is Richard McCloskey-Wall and I’m an author and illustrator based in Belfast Northern Ireland. Since hearing my first fairytale as a child I have had an interest in Irish mythology, folklore, and the Fae. There is a magic in Ireland like no other place I know and growing up there, there was a tantalizing feeling that you might just come across a Faerie or leprechaun hiding in the hollow of a tree or Sneaking through a dew draped thicket on a misty morning. Those images have lingered into my adult life and as an author I hope to pass those magical feelings I had on to a new generation of wide eyed mischievous children.

Corinne: How long have you been writing and illustrating your own own books? And what made you start?

Richard: Like many people, lock-down gave me the time and space to (at the age of 40) take on a project I’d been putting off for most of my adult life, that project was writing my first children’s book. I’d been putting it off for years because life was so busy, suddenly I had all the time in the world.

Corinne: What comes first for you, the characters or the story?

Richard: My books came about in a slightly unusual way, as I said I had been kicking the idea of a book around for quite some time but it was a lump of clay that really brought the project to life. I do a little sculpting and one wet weekend I made three odd little creatures, they were full of character and that’s when I decided they needed to come alive in book form as the Irish Bog Imps Muckfoot, Dryleaf, and Hedgeroot.

Corinne: How many books have you written and which is your favourite?

Richard: Since then I have written ten books, most are kids books. I have also written a book for young adults (Geoff Budgie’s Goblin Snatching For Beginners) and a book of dark Irish fairy tales for adults (Mrs. Mulligan’s Mischief of Magpies) this is something I plan to do more of in the future. My favourite has to be Big Knickers, it is a firm favourite with kids and parents both and I still giggle at the antics of the imps in it.

Corinne: What inspired the idea for your books?

Richard: My books have all been inspired by Irish folklore and mythology. I’ve tried very hard to reverse the fluttering Tinkerbell idea of fairies. Irish fairies were always up to no good and my Bog Imps are continuously making mischief.

Corinne: If you could meet the characters in your story's how would you get along?

Richard: If I met my characters when I was about six years old we would get on like a house on fire as I was a bit of an imp myself but I’m a bit older and grouchier now and the imps would probably spend most of their time playing pranks on me!

I do a little sculpting and one wet weekend I made three odd little creatures, they were full of character and that’s when I decided they needed to come alive in book form as the Irish Bog Imps Muckfoot, Dryleaf, and Hedgeroot.

You can find Richard at ST George's Market Belfast

Corinne: What risks with your books have you taken and did it pay off?

Richard: The biggest risk I feel I took with my books was financially. I’m self published and therefore had to bare printing costs etc. But after book one, the books started to pay for themselves so for me that risk paid off.

Corinne: What's your ambition for your books?

Richard: My real ambition for the books is an animated series or better still a movie. I’m often told that the Bog Imps are crying out to be made into a movie and perhaps some day I’ll get to watch them on the big screen.

Corinne: What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to someone wanting to start writing children's books?

Richard: The best advice I could give anyone who wants to write a children’s book is to just go for it, stop putting it off. Seeing a child laughing out loud at your book is the best feeling in the world, I wish I had done it years ago.

Corinne: I love the models you make of your characters. What is your hope for them e.g. a toy range?

Richard: I continue to sculpt and add characters to the books and these might hopefully someday be the blueprint for the toys that accompany the movie that might never happen but as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to the conclusion that you gotta dream big, what’s the worst that could happen…

Since hearing my first fairytale as a child I have had an interest in Irish mythology, folklore, and the Fae.

My real ambition for the books is an animated series or better still a movie, I'm often told that the Bog Imps are crying out to be made into a movie and perhaps some day I'll get to watch them on the big screen.

A melody can make you feel sad, happy, comforted, strong or ready to take on the world. I’ve said before, I believe that music is more powerful than people realise and its healing powers, in so many ways, deserve to be studied and researched much more.