Lindsay Jane Sedgwick
lindsayjsedgwick.com
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This week it is my pleasure to interview Lindsay Jane Sedgwick. Would you please introduce yourself to my readers and share something about your life.
Hi, I’m an author, screenwriter and playwright based in Dublin, Ireland, about to publish my tenth book in September, Mischievous Magical Maia Malone. Maia has a magical gift – if she describes something she has drawn, it comes to life – with comic, chaotic and nearly tragic results. It’s my fifth middle-grade kids book, for 7-10 year-olds, with cross-cultural adoption at its heart, a rollercoaster adventure with a fully diverse cast.
I’m currently writing this in my shed with all the blinds pulled down because it’s so sunny – something that’s unusual enough in Ireland – while my daughter’s cat, Beans is studiously ignoring me and pulling loudly from the desk behind me. My books include two of flash fiction, two novels, one non-fiction – a comprehensive guide to writing a screenplay, and children’s literature.
When did you write your first book and how did it come about?
The actual first book I wrote when I was nine and I can remember quite precociously responding to one of my brother’s friends when he asked what I was doing. It ran to 56 jotter pages, but I do remember writing the words bigger and bigger to fit the pages. My first published book, Dad’s Red Dress was published in 2017. I was a writer in residence in Maynooth University, C. Kildare, at the time and I self-published it under the Janey Mac Books imprint. The reason I did this was because it had been sat on for eight months by a large publisher. Their Irish wing loved it and sent it to the UK. They loved it and sent it to their US ‘parent’ who said it wasn’t edgy enough. (Irish publishers have previously turned it down because it was too edgy for them.) It’s the story of a thirteen-year-old who just wants to be ‘normal’ – trouble is her kid sister thinks she’s been abducted by the Virgin Mary (not once but twice, once on a pink motorbike), her step mum makes provocative feminist sculptures while Dad becomes Mandy when the front door closes.
Do you always write in the same genre or do you mix it up?
I mix it up. Always have. My two novels (Dad’s Red Dress, The Angelica Touch) have been put on YA shelves as well as general. My Wulfie series (with Little Island) are for 6-9+ while my new book is for 7-10, so a little older – all the children’s books began life as animation scripts or series that ultimately did not get made so they are very visual. My flash fictions are usually twisty – very sparse (50-200 words max), usually first person, and they can be heartrending or dark. Write That Script, my screenwriting book is based on my teaching of screenwriting for 30 years, and it’s driven by writing exercises to put the theory into practice and finish your script. The next two books I’m working on are a memoir inspired by my mother called The Kimono in the Bottom Drawer, which is creative non-fiction, and a huge fantasy book called Candlemist. I’m also writing stories for magazines again and had three accepted this year. All of them were non-fiction.
When you write, do you start with an idea and sit down and let it evolve, or do you make notes and plot the chapters beforehand?
It varies. Mischievous Magical Maia Malone came from a drawing my child did – a bunch of squiggles that she described as a chicken called Kifkin in his rocket made from bread flying to the moon. The idea that what we see is not what they have drawn – and what if they’re describing the picture altered reality? I eventually wrote a short film about this, but the child had special needs and from that script I developed a tv series that ended up being shown in more than 100 countries, called Punky. The first mainstream cartoon to ever have a child with special needs (Down’s syndrome) as its lead! But the magical gift didn’t make the cut. Or the lighthouse the child lived in. I developed that idea as a feature script. It didn’t get made so it became the germ of the book. The germ of Dad’s Red Dress was with me from when I was a teen and the son of people my parents knew was transitioning. I always wondered how their children told everyone at school, how it affected them.
The memoir began with old holiday snaps of my parents from the 50s and I started using them as a writing prompt after my father died because, after months of caring for him, I couldn’t really write any more.
Candlemist, which I’m working on now, began as jottings in a notebook by the bed after my mother died. I decided not to worry about logic and just write – and it was so odd, that I knew there was something there.
Theme-wise, there are always sisters and it’s the youngest who drives the story. There is also always loss because I lost my older sister, Jill I was closest to too soon. Childhood memories of emotions are very strong, and these propel story too.
Would you like to give us a short excerpt from one of your books?
Let me introduce you to Maia and her sister, Neeta – who is skating on the skatepark while Maia waits on the bench, but also to Graham who has autism and who plays a huge role in the story. I want to give you an idea of the chaos that Maia’s gift can cause…
Maia was drawing the ice cream truck firing free cones to a huge crowd of people, including herself, when a red-headed boy perched on the end of her bench. His fingers played with the air, as if they were anemones trapped in a glass cage. She had seen him in school, so Maia smiled, but he didn’t respond. Since she knew it was rude to stare – Neeta told her this all the time – she drew her sister skating instead, until an older boy with two 99 ice-cream cones sat down between them. He offered one to the boy with the dancing hands, who sniffed it and turned away. Maia had never seen anyone turn down a cone before. “Does he not like ice-cream?” “It might be the flake,” said the boy who was, she decided, about Neeta’s age. “He doesn’t like mixed-up food, but I couldn’t get one for myself without getting one for him. Even if he wasn’t going to eat it.” He offered the other 99 to Maia. “I can’t really eat two of them.” Eating ice-cream wasn’t on Neeta’s not-to-do list, so Maia nodded and took the ice-cream with a smile. “I’m Jack by the way,” he said. “And this is my brother Graham.” He lifted his free hand and Graham high-fived him, making no eye contact, before removing a pouch from his rucksack. “Go ahead,” said Jack. Graham immediately knelt down beside the path, emptying pebbles, twigs and polished stones onto the tarmac. “I'm Maia,” she said, offering Zach a fingerful of ice-cream as Graham sorted his stones into criss-crossing lines along the edge of the path. “Maybe different foods feel different to him?” “I’ve wondered that,” said Jack. “We all eat so fast, but it’s as if Graham needs to taste each food one at a time.” Maia picked two small stones from the grass and offered them to Graham on her outstretched palm. He looked at them, and then away. “If you put them down near him, he might take them,” said Jack. When Maia did, Graham selected the smaller one, leaving the glittery pebble behind. “No quartz,” he said. “Except on Morrough Street, and I have Morrough Street.” He held out a polished stone to show her before putting it at right angles to a short twig shaped like a Y. Maia tipped her head to one side and stared at the pattern Graham was making. “Is every pebble a street?” Jack nodded. “It’s a sort of map, but by road texture, with twigs for junctions,” he said…. “I like your dog, but I love your picture.” “It's my sister, Neeta,” said Maia without thinking. “Doing a triple thingy in the air.” As soon as she said these words, Neeta and her board spun up in the air, up and over Bonzo's head. Not only that, but Neeta did a triple loop, without losing her footing once. Passers-by stopped to applaud. For a moment, Neeta didn’t wonder how or why. Not even when she landed with her board on top of a branch, bouncing a small but very full nest onto Bonzo below. She did the look-no-hands gesture and smiled to her audience, as if it was nothing! Unfortunately, at that very moment, a pigeon nearly pooped on Maia’s head and Maia stopped thinking about her drawing of Neeta. Only one thing happens when Maia forgets: everything returns to normal, mostly. Which isn’t great when you’re balancing on your skateboard at the top of a very tall tree.With an angry bully called Bonzo underneath.
Neeta began to wobble, and the branch wobbled back. Next thing she knew, Neeta was spinning downwards. She landed feet first on the back of Bonzo’s board – firing him over her head into a row of particularly prickly rose bushes. Not wanting to find out what he thought of this, Neeta grabbed her board and backed out of the skatepark. Soon as she was off, she turned and walked towards Maia. She saw the pencil in her sister’s hand. Then she saw the notebook. Neeta saw red. But not red as in how a bull sees red. This was far, far, FAR worse. Unaware that she had a big angry sister heading her way, Maia lifted a palm to Graham and, to Jack’s surprise, Graham touched this hand off hers.
Who is your favourite character and why?
At the moment, it’s Maia Malone. She’s feisty and funny, but you wouldn’t want to take her for granted because she has so much courage in her bones. She’s also full of heart, trying to do what she thinks is best for her family, but really isn’t.
Which of your books gave you the most pleasure to write?
It’s always the one I’m working on –the moment when it’s finished is unbelievable, especially after all the drafts and the self-doubt that creeps in. When you read it back and go yes, that works.
How would you describe yourself?
As a writer, often disorganized and frustrated with myself. Driven, determined; confident when the inner critic will back off and hide under the sofa. Very creative. I love brainstorming new ideas, characters and worlds, - the ‘shiny new thing’ - which can be distracting.
What do you do when you are not writing or reading?
I paint and I doodle. I got back into art nearly ten years ago, and do everything from odd little characters to abstract stuff, to following a pen and seeing where it goes and what characters I can pull from it.
If you could holiday anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?
There are so many places I’d love to see but first, I want to go to Australia to visit one of my older sisters, Karen. She lives near Coff’s Harbour, and you can stroll along the beach, through the creek, to the nearest town. It’s idyllic. She’s also a fantastic artist so I usually get to experiment with whatever technique or craft she’s recently learnt.
If you have owned pets, do you have a funny story you would like to share with us?
We had a dog called Zach. Half greyhound, half Alsatian, he was forever running off – and fast. My not-yet-husband was chasing after her once when he tripped and tumbled into a ditch. When he looked up, Zach was sitting there watching him. (I named the dog in Mischievous Magical Maia Malone after him.)
What is the biggest factor for you when selecting a book to read?
I will read the blurb, but then I’ll dip into it at random, so the writing will decide it for me. Also recommendations, being leant books by friends that I wouldn’t otherwise come across.
Do you have your own website?
Web: lindsayjsedgwick.com Insta: @LindsayjsedgwickFor signed copies of my books on the Janey Mac Bookstore
Are you working on a new book at the moment?
I’m busy trying to promote Mischievous Magical Maia Malone because I’ve returned to self-publishing with this one. I hired a brilliant illustrator Abigail Hicks https://abigailhicks.com/), so there are wonderful illustrations all the way through. Once it is in the world, both Candlemist and the memoir will be competing for my attention. Candlemist needs a lot more work, but I really want to dive back in! The memoir I’ve been sending stories out from and have had two published. I’ve told myself when three are accepted, I’ll go back to it and get it ready to send to publishers.
Do you have any events or book promotions coming up that you would like to tell us about?
Mischievous Magical Maia Malone is coming out on September 17th. It will be available on all usual outlets (ISBN is 978-0-9957027-8-3), but there are launches in Dublin on that date, and in Galway on October 2nd if anyone would like to come along. And you can get signed copies directly from me via the website or Janey Mac Bookstore.
Hi, I’m an author, screenwriter and playwright based in Dublin, Ireland, about to publish my tenth book in September, Mischievous Magical Maia Malone. Maia has a magical gift – if she describes something she has drawn, it comes to life – with comic, chaotic and nearly tragic results. It’s my fifth middle-grade kids book, for 7-10 year-olds, with cross-cultural adoption at its heart, a rollercoaster adventure with a fully diverse cast.
I’m currently writing this in my shed with all the blinds pulled down because it’s so sunny – something that’s unusual enough in Ireland – while my daughter’s cat, Beans is studiously ignoring me and pulling loudly from the desk behind me. My books include two of flash fiction, two novels, one non-fiction – a comprehensive guide to writing a screenplay, and children’s literature.
When did you write your first book and how did it come about?
The actual first book I wrote when I was nine and I can remember quite precociously responding to one of my brother’s friends when he asked what I was doing. It ran to 56 jotter pages, but I do remember writing the words bigger and bigger to fit the pages. My first published book, Dad’s Red Dress was published in 2017. I was a writer in residence in Maynooth University, C. Kildare, at the time and I self-published it under the Janey Mac Books imprint. The reason I did this was because it had been sat on for eight months by a large publisher. Their Irish wing loved it and sent it to the UK. They loved it and sent it to their US ‘parent’ who said it wasn’t edgy enough. (Irish publishers have previously turned it down because it was too edgy for them.) It’s the story of a thirteen-year-old who just wants to be ‘normal’ – trouble is her kid sister thinks she’s been abducted by the Virgin Mary (not once but twice, once on a pink motorbike), her step mum makes provocative feminist sculptures while Dad becomes Mandy when the front door closes.
Do you always write in the same genre or do you mix it up?
I mix it up. Always have. My two novels (Dad’s Red Dress, The Angelica Touch) have been put on YA shelves as well as general. My Wulfie series (with Little Island) are for 6-9+ while my new book is for 7-10, so a little older – all the children’s books began life as animation scripts or series that ultimately did not get made so they are very visual. My flash fictions are usually twisty – very sparse (50-200 words max), usually first person, and they can be heartrending or dark. Write That Script, my screenwriting book is based on my teaching of screenwriting for 30 years, and it’s driven by writing exercises to put the theory into practice and finish your script. The next two books I’m working on are a memoir inspired by my mother called The Kimono in the Bottom Drawer, which is creative non-fiction, and a huge fantasy book called Candlemist. I’m also writing stories for magazines again and had three accepted this year. All of them were non-fiction.
When you write, do you start with an idea and sit down and let it evolve, or do you make notes and plot the chapters beforehand?
It varies. Mischievous Magical Maia Malone came from a drawing my child did – a bunch of squiggles that she described as a chicken called Kifkin in his rocket made from bread flying to the moon. The idea that what we see is not what they have drawn – and what if they’re describing the picture altered reality? I eventually wrote a short film about this, but the child had special needs and from that script I developed a tv series that ended up being shown in more than 100 countries, called Punky. The first mainstream cartoon to ever have a child with special needs (Down’s syndrome) as its lead! But the magical gift didn’t make the cut. Or the lighthouse the child lived in. I developed that idea as a feature script. It didn’t get made so it became the germ of the book. The germ of Dad’s Red Dress was with me from when I was a teen and the son of people my parents knew was transitioning. I always wondered how their children told everyone at school, how it affected them.
The memoir began with old holiday snaps of my parents from the 50s and I started using them as a writing prompt after my father died because, after months of caring for him, I couldn’t really write any more.
Candlemist, which I’m working on now, began as jottings in a notebook by the bed after my mother died. I decided not to worry about logic and just write – and it was so odd, that I knew there was something there.
Theme-wise, there are always sisters and it’s the youngest who drives the story. There is also always loss because I lost my older sister, Jill I was closest to too soon. Childhood memories of emotions are very strong, and these propel story too.
Would you like to give us a short excerpt from one of your books?
Let me introduce you to Maia and her sister, Neeta – who is skating on the skatepark while Maia waits on the bench, but also to Graham who has autism and who plays a huge role in the story. I want to give you an idea of the chaos that Maia’s gift can cause…
Maia was drawing the ice cream truck firing free cones to a huge crowd of people, including herself, when a red-headed boy perched on the end of her bench. His fingers played with the air, as if they were anemones trapped in a glass cage. She had seen him in school, so Maia smiled, but he didn’t respond. Since she knew it was rude to stare – Neeta told her this all the time – she drew her sister skating instead, until an older boy with two 99 ice-cream cones sat down between them. He offered one to the boy with the dancing hands, who sniffed it and turned away. Maia had never seen anyone turn down a cone before. “Does he not like ice-cream?” “It might be the flake,” said the boy who was, she decided, about Neeta’s age. “He doesn’t like mixed-up food, but I couldn’t get one for myself without getting one for him. Even if he wasn’t going to eat it.” He offered the other 99 to Maia. “I can’t really eat two of them.” Eating ice-cream wasn’t on Neeta’s not-to-do list, so Maia nodded and took the ice-cream with a smile. “I’m Jack by the way,” he said. “And this is my brother Graham.” He lifted his free hand and Graham high-fived him, making no eye contact, before removing a pouch from his rucksack. “Go ahead,” said Jack. Graham immediately knelt down beside the path, emptying pebbles, twigs and polished stones onto the tarmac. “I'm Maia,” she said, offering Zach a fingerful of ice-cream as Graham sorted his stones into criss-crossing lines along the edge of the path. “Maybe different foods feel different to him?” “I’ve wondered that,” said Jack. “We all eat so fast, but it’s as if Graham needs to taste each food one at a time.” Maia picked two small stones from the grass and offered them to Graham on her outstretched palm. He looked at them, and then away. “If you put them down near him, he might take them,” said Jack. When Maia did, Graham selected the smaller one, leaving the glittery pebble behind. “No quartz,” he said. “Except on Morrough Street, and I have Morrough Street.” He held out a polished stone to show her before putting it at right angles to a short twig shaped like a Y. Maia tipped her head to one side and stared at the pattern Graham was making. “Is every pebble a street?” Jack nodded. “It’s a sort of map, but by road texture, with twigs for junctions,” he said…. “I like your dog, but I love your picture.” “It's my sister, Neeta,” said Maia without thinking. “Doing a triple thingy in the air.” As soon as she said these words, Neeta and her board spun up in the air, up and over Bonzo's head. Not only that, but Neeta did a triple loop, without losing her footing once. Passers-by stopped to applaud. For a moment, Neeta didn’t wonder how or why. Not even when she landed with her board on top of a branch, bouncing a small but very full nest onto Bonzo below. She did the look-no-hands gesture and smiled to her audience, as if it was nothing! Unfortunately, at that very moment, a pigeon nearly pooped on Maia’s head and Maia stopped thinking about her drawing of Neeta. Only one thing happens when Maia forgets: everything returns to normal, mostly. Which isn’t great when you’re balancing on your skateboard at the top of a very tall tree.With an angry bully called Bonzo underneath.
Neeta began to wobble, and the branch wobbled back. Next thing she knew, Neeta was spinning downwards. She landed feet first on the back of Bonzo’s board – firing him over her head into a row of particularly prickly rose bushes. Not wanting to find out what he thought of this, Neeta grabbed her board and backed out of the skatepark. Soon as she was off, she turned and walked towards Maia. She saw the pencil in her sister’s hand. Then she saw the notebook. Neeta saw red. But not red as in how a bull sees red. This was far, far, FAR worse. Unaware that she had a big angry sister heading her way, Maia lifted a palm to Graham and, to Jack’s surprise, Graham touched this hand off hers.
Who is your favourite character and why?
At the moment, it’s Maia Malone. She’s feisty and funny, but you wouldn’t want to take her for granted because she has so much courage in her bones. She’s also full of heart, trying to do what she thinks is best for her family, but really isn’t.
Which of your books gave you the most pleasure to write?
It’s always the one I’m working on –the moment when it’s finished is unbelievable, especially after all the drafts and the self-doubt that creeps in. When you read it back and go yes, that works.
How would you describe yourself?
As a writer, often disorganized and frustrated with myself. Driven, determined; confident when the inner critic will back off and hide under the sofa. Very creative. I love brainstorming new ideas, characters and worlds, - the ‘shiny new thing’ - which can be distracting.
What do you do when you are not writing or reading?
I paint and I doodle. I got back into art nearly ten years ago, and do everything from odd little characters to abstract stuff, to following a pen and seeing where it goes and what characters I can pull from it.
If you could holiday anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?
There are so many places I’d love to see but first, I want to go to Australia to visit one of my older sisters, Karen. She lives near Coff’s Harbour, and you can stroll along the beach, through the creek, to the nearest town. It’s idyllic. She’s also a fantastic artist so I usually get to experiment with whatever technique or craft she’s recently learnt.
If you have owned pets, do you have a funny story you would like to share with us?
We had a dog called Zach. Half greyhound, half Alsatian, he was forever running off – and fast. My not-yet-husband was chasing after her once when he tripped and tumbled into a ditch. When he looked up, Zach was sitting there watching him. (I named the dog in Mischievous Magical Maia Malone after him.)
What is the biggest factor for you when selecting a book to read?
I will read the blurb, but then I’ll dip into it at random, so the writing will decide it for me. Also recommendations, being leant books by friends that I wouldn’t otherwise come across.
Do you have your own website?
Web: lindsayjsedgwick.com Insta: @LindsayjsedgwickFor signed copies of my books on the Janey Mac Bookstore
Are you working on a new book at the moment?
I’m busy trying to promote Mischievous Magical Maia Malone because I’ve returned to self-publishing with this one. I hired a brilliant illustrator Abigail Hicks https://abigailhicks.com/), so there are wonderful illustrations all the way through. Once it is in the world, both Candlemist and the memoir will be competing for my attention. Candlemist needs a lot more work, but I really want to dive back in! The memoir I’ve been sending stories out from and have had two published. I’ve told myself when three are accepted, I’ll go back to it and get it ready to send to publishers.
Do you have any events or book promotions coming up that you would like to tell us about?
Mischievous Magical Maia Malone is coming out on September 17th. It will be available on all usual outlets (ISBN is 978-0-9957027-8-3), but there are launches in Dublin on that date, and in Galway on October 2nd if anyone would like to come along. And you can get signed copies directly from me via the website or Janey Mac Bookstore.