FAQ
Q. What can you tell us about the Highland Falcon Thief?
A. The Highland Falcon Thief is an exciting mystery story set on the final journey of the royal steam train as it travels around the country. It follows 11-year-old Harrison Beck, who befriends the stowaway daughter of the engine driver, Lenny and the two of them discover that someone on the train is a jewel thief. They must work together to catch them before the journey comes to an end.
Q. The book is the first in a new series Adventures on Trains - what made you want to write about train journeys?
A. Maya’s sons loved trains when they were little, but they couldn’t find chapter books about trains when they got older. That’s what gave her the idea to write a series of adventures on trains, but she didn’t know anything about them. Sam has wanted to write about trains ever since he could hold a pencil. It was a match made in heaven.
Q. Will we find any beetles lurking in the pages somewhere?
A. We’re afraid there are no beetles in these books, but there are some rather lovely dogs.
Q. What is the main character, Harrison like and is he inspired by anyone you know?
A. Harrison is 11 years old and loves to draw. Everyone calls him Hal. He’s from Crewe and hasn’t travelled much outside his home town. He’s not very interested in trains at the start of the book but he soon sees how amazing they are. He looks similar to Maya’s son Sebastian.
Q. How did you end up writing a book together and how does it work? i.e. Do you write a chapter each, or actually sit down together etc.
A. We used to work together at the National Theatre, where we became friends. Sam asked Maya what she was going to do after the beetle books, and she told him about an idea she’d had to write stories about trains. But she didn’t know enough about trains to write them. Sam got very excited because he’s always loved trains, and before you know it, we were writing together. We tend to plot the story first together using Post-It notes, and then take turns to write different drafts.
Q. t's a bit of a different style/project for both of you, how did you find the experience?
A. Writing with a friend is wonderful because when you get stuck you can ask for help! We weren’t sure when we started if it was going to work, but in our old job we had worked on creative projects together, so we knew how to talk to each other and listen to each other’s ideas.
Q. These books are detective mysteries - what made you want to write mysteries?
A. The best part of a mystery story is trying to figure it out. We loved to idea of creating stories with clues and puzzles in it for the reader, so they can try to work out the mystery at the same time as Hal.
Q. Can you tell us about a memorable or favourite train journey you’ve been on?
A. We took a research trip together, travelling from Kings Cross to Paris, then Paris to Berlin and all the way out to Wernegrode, to ride a steam train up into the Harz mountains in Germany. It was very cold and beautiful. The Brockenbahn is the last timetabled steam railway service in Europe, and it goes right to the mountaintop, where you can look out over Germany for hundreds of miles.
Q. Did you try lots of different train journeys to research this series?
A. Between us we’ve been on lots of trains in lots of countries. We like to travel by train whenever we can, and we’re always coming up with new ideas for our books based on our real-life adventures.
Q. The first book heads to Scotland, where else are you planning to go in the series?
A. Our second adventure will be in America, on the incredible journey from Chicago to San Francisco. We also have plans to visit South Africa and Germany as well.
Q. The second book is out this year, how did you manage to write them so quickly?
A. Hard work, lots of tea, and plenty of custard creams!
Q. Where in the world would you like to travel by train?
A. Maya has always wanted to travel around India by train, and Sam would love to visit Japan, to ride the famous bullet trains, the first high speed railways in the world.
Q. When did you decide you wanted to write books for children?
A. When Maya came up with the idea for Beetle Boy, she didn’t realise it was a children’s book, but has since discovered her inner narrative voice is that of a twelve year-old. Even though she’s a grown-up, all her books are really for those who are children or young at heart. Sam hadn’t thought about writing books for young readers, but when he started talking to Maya about Adventures On Trains, he realised how much fun you could have in a children’s book, and has fallen in love with it.
Q. What advice would you give to our readers who want to be authors?
A. Read a lot of books! When you start writing a story, keep going all the way to the end before you start trying to improve it. It’s much better to have a finished thing that’s terrible, which you can make better, than part of a thing you can never finish because you’re too busy making it better.