notes on Kate Thompson & Keith Gray
Only managing to write about Monday’s event with Kate Thompson (KT) and Keith Gray (KG) now. As promised the talk was lively and interesting - graciously led by the nicest man on earth, Robert Dunbar (I’m paraphrasing Roberts questions here. He delivered them much more eloquently on Monday than I can reproduce).
Both Keith and Kate’s books are tagged with ‘Not Suitable for Younger Readers‘ on the back cover. Do you have a say on whether or not that appears on the cover?
KG: Unfortunately I don’t. On my first book Warehouse was one of the first books that carried the label and the publisher hoped that it would make the book look more dangerous and appealing.
KT: ‘Not suitable’ isn’t quite the same as age branding. I feel that the content in both books [Ostrich Boys and Creature of the Night] need a certain understanding.
‘Are there any taboos left in teen writing?’
KT: There shouldn’t be. That may not be the case, but there shouldn’t be. It is really more about how it is dealt with.
The talk also gave some insight into how each writer works. For instance, Kate doesn’t think about her readership as she is writing - admitting that she writes mostly for herself - while Keith is mindful of his audience as he writes.
Another difference between the two: Ostrich Boys took Keith 3 years to complete whereas Kate often drafts her books in one long all night writing spree.
That Very Hungry Caterpillar was there too and has some ideas from the night.