Has Anyone Seen Archie Ebbs?

About Simon Packham

A Q&A with Simon..

What inspires your writing?  A need to try and make some sense of the world. My  children.

What has been the most exciting moment of your career so far?  Seeing my first review in The Observer (totally unexpected – and good by the way), and having my work translated into other languages.

How did you first become an author?  I’d taken a break from acting to be a ‘househusband’ and look after our two small children. I’d always written since I was about 9 years old (plays to begin with), but it really helped me stay sane amidst all the nappy changing. My first adult novel The Opposite Bastard (about an out of work actor who is forced to become carer for a teenage quadriplegic at Oxford University) was published by Macmillan New Writing. I started writing for a younger audience in an effort to entertain my son (then about 12 now 18). I hoped I could interest him in something that didn’t involve teenage spies or wizards.

What are you reading right now?  Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon and before that Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner.

What was your earliest career aspiration?  I always wanted to be an actor, and that’s what I did for the first twenty years of my working life. Specialising in small, but mainly insignificant characters in West-End shows, I still had a great time and got to work with
some amazing people. (Dame Judi Dench, Omar Sharif, Frank Finlay, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Ann Aston off the Golden Shot etc...)

What advice would you give to budding writers?  Don’t let your inner critic put you off before you’ve even started. There’s no such thing as a bad idea – it’s all in the way you tackle it.

What was your favourite childhood book?  I loved William books by Richmal Crompton and Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking.

Where is your favourite place to write?  I used to write in the bedroom, but then we had a loft conversion so now I’ve got my own room. I still can’t decide if I’m more productive when I face the window.

How do you read- print, digitally or both?  I’ve got a Kindle, which I find brilliant for editing my own work and reading non-fiction, but I still prefer reading novels in the old fashioned way.

Who do you most admire?  Peter Tatchell – teachers in state schools.

Are there any books you wish you had written?  American Pyscho (Bret Easton Ellis) and Vile Bodies (Evelyn Waugh)