5 questions for Reeve & McIntyre

October 14th 2015

We were lucky enough to receive a whistle-stop visit from Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre on their 'Pugs on Tour' tour recently, as part of the promotion of their latest book, Pugs of the Frozen North. We asked them a few questions...  

Five Questions for Sarah McIntyre

1) When did you decide you were going to illustrate children’s books for a living?

I’ve always liked to draw since I did my first book when I was about 5 - it was called My Fish. I’d thought I had wanted to be a painter, but I decided it was more fun when you could make stories, so I decided to be a children’s book illustrator, and maybe sometimes write, too.

2) You recently launched Pictures Mean Business, a campaign to highlight the lack of recognition for illustrators in the book trade. How is that going?

I think the hardest struggles are dealing with data issues – a lot of systems aren’t capable of handling the data [illustrators' names]. But we see more illustrators appearing on front covers, which is brilliant – I think that’s been our biggest achievement so far.

3) Do you make your own hats and outfits?

Sometimes I do – this one is made out of soda bottles – and a candle! You can find out how to make anything on YouTube!

4) Why pugs? Do you have a pet one?

No, funnily enough, we went on a ‘pugwalk’ in London recently and we couldn’t believe how lovely the pugs were. There were about 15 of them and altogether they were so placid and they all got along and were happy together. We didn’t even see one wee, it was almost like the Stepford Pugs, they were so perfect. We need pugs. I thought they were a faddish thing, but actually they are the nicest dogs you could have.

5) Where do you do your illustration?

I work in an old police station in Deptford – we even have jail cells there- I share the office will Gary Northfield, who does the Julius Zebra books, and Elissa Elwick, who’s a picture book writer and illustrator. She’s currently working with Philip Ardagh.

Five Questions for Philip Reeve

1) Which do you prefer writing, fiction such as Railhead or Mortal Engines, or shorter stories for younger children, like the ones you produce in conjunction with Sarah McIntyre?

I like to have both channels open – something like Railhead takes years and years, with lots of different drafts and quite a lot of thought going in to it. Books like Pugs of the Frozen North are relatively quick to write, and they’re a lot more fun when we get to go out on the road in costumes! The two in conjunction seem to me to be the ideal way to go.

2) Is it true that you worked as an illustrator before deciding to concentrate on your writing?

Yes, I studied illustration at art college originally and I did illustrate for a number of years – I did some of the Horrible Histories and Murderous Maths – that was my bread and butter work while I was writing at the same time as a hobby, and eventually I wrote Mortal Engines, which got published and gradually I turned into a ‘writer’.

3) Do you enjoy dressing up in wacky costumes with Sarah?

Yes, very much!

4) Do you have your own pug?

No. But I do have a poodle. I don’t think a pug would cope very well where I live on Dartmoor. If I lived in town, though, a pug would be a very fine dog to have.

5) Where do you write?

I have an outbuilding which I’ve converted into a studio, and I work in there, although these days mostly I work on trains, I guess, because I’m always off to another Pugs of the Frozen North roadshow event!