Bath and North East Somerset Libraries


Kids Zone

Festive Interview With Elen Caldecott


Bristol based author Elen Caldecott answers our questions!

What’s on your Christmas list this year?

These days my family know that the only gift I really want are book tokens. So, come January, I’m spoiled when it comes to reading! This year, I’ll be seeking out Malorie Blackman’s memoir, ‘Just Sayin’’. I also want to read Louisa Reid’s ‘Activist’ as I love verse novels. Also, ‘The First to Die at the End’ is a prequel by Adam Silvera that I’ve been really looking forward to.

The Mystery of Wickworth Manor book cover

What festive traditions did you grow up with?

We used to get a stocking on our bed, which was one of my dad’s rugby socks. Because we didn’t open the presents under the tree until after Christmas dinner, the stockings were the most magical part of our Christmas mornings. It was full of small gifts that meant there were just so many of them. I’d often get a book and a chocolate orange, so that was my Christmas morning sorted.

What are you currently reading or any recommendations for our readers?

I mostly read children’s and YA fiction. This year I loved Ross Montgomery’s ‘The Chime Seekers’ which has a very traditional structure and a very modern aesthetic, which was just joyful. I also past ‘The Blue Book of Nebo’ by Manon Steffan Ross around to all my reading pals. It’s a gem of a book; a little dystopian but a brilliantly told story.

How do you research and plan before beginning to write?

I like to write longhand in a notebook to begin with. I’ll make notes about my characters, the places they live, what might happen to them. I’ll also be reading books that might be connected with mine – books on a similar theme, or with a similar structure. I’ll make notes on how my book might be influenced by them, or work differently to the way they work. I also really like to go the settings I’ll use in the story and take a lot of photographs and make notes in situ.

I’ll often create a Pinterest moodboard with those images. I’ll also be writing alongside all this note-making. I find that it’s often only by writing that I find my way into the book. My first drafts are always very messy, as I’m finding out what happens as I go.

Cats and Curses book cover

What are you working on next?

I’m working on a book that isn’t really at a talking-about stage just yet. I can say that it’s set in Blackpool and I did go on a research trip there this summer. It was just like I remembered it from my childhood – the good and bad. I’m really enjoying writing about  a place which was designed for excitement, but has some darkness about it too.

To learn more about Elen and her books visit: https://elencaldecott.com/


This interview was conducted in 2022.