1: Planning a trip to Australia? (specifically Mt Beau Brummel, Queensland, but anywhere within a 2000km radius will suffice) (Vanessa)

2: Why 1985? Did something life-changing happen to you in 1985 for you to choose to set the books then? (Carla)

3: Is Elmo, the Abyssinian cat, ever going to appear elsewhere, or do I have to wander around in the Well of Lost Plots to find him? (Minsky the cat)

4: I really admire your ability to handle book-jumping and time travel in the same story, since it does create a very open-ended virtual universe. Do you ever find it gets confusing to write, or does it just come naturally? (Sarah)

5: When you're writing, do you listen to music, and if so, what kind of stuff? Also, how do you take your tea/coffee? (Fuzz)

6: What do you think of obsessive fans who know the books better than you? (Carla)

7: Are you ever tempted to put in a load of really obscure references to give Jon a headache? (PSD)

8: What was your favourite birthday present? (either for yourself or bought by you for someone else)

9: What is your favourite book?

10: Which Star Wars character would you be given the chance?

11: Are you now going to resurrect and publish your previously unpublished novels?

12: How do you keep calm when interviewers ask really inane questions - ones that show that they haven't read the book and/or haven't read many books at all it seems?!

13: How about if there was enough demand after the five books hopefully when (not if) they are published, would you then go on and write one of Millon de Floss' essays/novels? Or would you try and pad the TN books out into another couple of stories as with the Hitch Hikers Guide trilogy in five parts? (Charles)

14: What kind of reaction did you get when getting the Porsche sprayed? (Adam)

15: How often do you read the Ffphorum? and

16: other than your own, what's your favourite website? (both Dave)

17: Why haven't you mentioned Chippenham yet? It's smack bang in the middle of Thursday country, you can't avoid it. (Lycanthra Pod)

18: Is there any book that you hold in such a sacred regard that you wouldn't let Thursday go into it and 'mess around', as it were, with the story? Not that she means to, but you know how she is... (Sarah B)

19: Do you see yourself always writing in this genre (whatever genre it is), or do you have ambitions to write in other fields an account of your adventures in the film industry, for instance?

20: Speaking of films, if TEA and/or LIAGB were to be made into movies, who would you love to see in the main roles? Especially Thursday, Acheron, and Jack Schitt? (And Twila suggests that you write the screenplays as well! Even if it means we have to wait a little longer between books (gasp! i think she's on her own there).

21: How did you get into flying? Do you get to fly much these days?

22: We don't know of many writers (all right, we don't know of any.) who have such a fan-oriented website. Is this part of some deep-laid marketing plot, or is it just because it's fun? And if the latter, is it fun?

23: Is there anywhere you really want to go that you haven't been to yet?

24: What does 'bobbilicious' actually mean?

25: What's the strangest question anybody has emailed you?

26: Are you ever tempted to move all your books to better positions in bookshops?

27: If there was to be a hideous nanomachine that was either going to eat books or airplanes, which would it have to be?

28: How are your bookshelves organised?

29: And, finally (phew), do you have any message for your, er, adoring fans out there? (Other than sign up for Whatever Next now obviously).









1: Planning a trip to Australia? (specifically Mt Beau Brummel, Queensland, but anywhere within a 2000km radius will suffice) (Vanessa)

Not this year - two years running would be a little too much to hope. There is talk of a tour in 2004 but it depends on book sales, I guess. I went to the Brisbane writer's festival last year and took the opportunity to do signings and talks and stuff in Melbourne and Sydney. It was great fun - my first time in Australia - even if a little hurried. I got one day off in three weeks and visited the blue mountains - which I discovered were neither blue, nor mountains - but spectacular in spite of it. Mind you, I was lucky to get even that one day - I was flown to New Zealand but was only there for forty hours and had only 30 minutes to myself!

2: Why 1985? Did something life-changing happen to you in 1985 for you to choose to set the books then? (Carla)

No; it was a entirely arbitrary - I just wanted to tell the story as if it happened in deep retrospection - as though this had all happened and only now can the truth be known. Originally I planned Thursday to exist in our world as a private detective in Swindon. But The Eyre Affair had a long gestation and much changed in the five or six years it took to write - but much stayed as it was, like flies in amber. Book Archaeology is a young science but The Eyre Affair would make a good study. Plots are laid upon plots, each one of them the original thrust of the book before being relegated to another. Commander Bradshaw's dig that you glimpse in TN2 was a reflection of this. One reader suggested that because of the Orwellian connotations of Goliath, it was 1985 because the year before had been 1984. I should claim this as it makes me sound more erudite, but it's not true.

3: Is Elmo, the Abyssinian cat, ever going to appear elsewhere, or do I have to wander around in the Well of Lost Plots to find him? (Minsky the cat)

Most definitely. I have this sequence where Thursday is in the Well of Lost Plots and a cat winds itself around her ankles, purring loudly.
   'Your cat?' asks someone.
   'No,' replied Thursday, 'I've never seen him before.'
   'Well he seems to know you...'
But I haven't put it in anywhere yet. Still in the 'Shoebox of lost gags'.

4: I really admire your ability to handle book-jumping and time travel in the same story, since it does create a very open-ended virtual universe. Do you ever find it gets confusing to write, or does it just come naturally? (Sarah)

It requires keeping a careful eye on, certainly. But since the two threads don't actually collide, I can keep them pretty separate. What is tricky is to keep the continuity right. I had to reread books one and two when writing three - it's surprisingly easy to let errors creep in.

5: When you're writing, do you listen to music, and if so, what kind of stuff? Also, how do you take your tea/coffee? (Fuzz)

I have a very varied taste in music. Everything from Rap to Classical to Latino to bratpack to Jazz. I'm very fond of Vivaldi, much like Miss Havisham, and Mozart, Tchiakovski, (spelling?) Pachabel. Curiously, I have also an inexplicable soft spot for seventies music. Blondie, ELO, SuperTramp and even the BeeGees (the only post I ever deleted on the forum was a less-then-respectful parody of 'Staying Alive' the day after Maurice Gibb died.) I take my tea and coffee in a cup, with milk and a quarter teaspoon of sugar as I am meant to be cutting down. Mari and I have a Gaggia in the kitchen so we can get a decent Mocha or Cappuccino here in the Welsh mountains. NB: Instant coffee is the work of Satan and should be relabelled 'Instant coffeesque-style flavoured drink'. Instant tea is below contempt and only for people who dine on too much railway food.

6: What do you think of obsessive fans who know the books better than you? (Carla)

Distinctly flattered but then depressed when my attention is brought to a bloophole that I have left in (See Jon Brierley's "Guide to the Nextian Universe".) My standard answer to someone who does point out a glowing error is to thank them profusely, apologise - and then add it to my Upgrade page.

7: Are you ever tempted to put in a load of really obscure references to give Jon a headache? (PSD)

I already have. They're just so obscure he will never get them. Harry Flex the film producer is named thus because of Arriflex cameras which I used a great deal when I was an assistant cameraman; 'Hollycroft farm' in TN-1 relates to Hollycroft Avenue in North London where I was born; "Finis Hotel" is an anagram of my UK agent, and my US agent and editor's names are there in the text, just split between words and divided by punctuation. Carl and Brett, the anchormen and woman are my editor's assistant's names. My partner Mari's name is anagrammed too -and there is more - much more!

8: What was your favourite birthday present? (either for yourself or bought by you for someone else)

A huge set of Meccano when I was eight.

9: What is your favourite book?

Probably 'Alice in Wonderland'. It was the first book I actually remembered picking up to read aged seven or eight. I still have the same copy in my library. Top five must also include Catch-22, To kill a mocking bird, Slaughterhouse-5, Decline and Fall and Three Men in a Boat. I often read the section about sailing or transporting a cheese from Liverpool, (3M in a B) and it still makes me laugh. All the books have references in mine. "Slaughterhouse-5?" I hear you ask, "where are the references to that?" Well, Lola Vavoom is a name not a million miles from Montana Wildhack and the astute reader might notice shades of the Tralfamadorians in the life cycle of BookPeople.

10: Which Star Wars character would you be given the chance? (all 3 by Dave)

Han Solo. Who wouldn't?

11: Are you now going to resurrect and publish your previously unpublished novels?

Too bloody right. I have committed myself to publishing a book a year for ten years - and publishing some of my back catalogue allows me to take two years to write a book instead of one. TN-3 has a vast publisher's arm twist written in to bring out the Jack Spratt series - essentially 'Nursery Crime' my 'Who killed Humpty Dumpty?' story. For me, this is the final vindication as it was my first book and the most rejected. I was, and still am, convinced that a book like this will be enjoyed by the reading public. Humpty Dumpty killed on his favourite wall, shades of insider trading in Reading's burgeoning footcare industry, a missing 14kg verrucca, Lola Vavoom, Ishmaelian revolution - this book has it all! Incidentally, when 'Nursery Crime' was rejected I wrote a Jack Spratt sequel 'The Fourth Bear' which was my dopey and hopelessly ineffective way of sticking two fingers up at those who rejected my strange ramblings. And there are three other books waiting in the wings, too - TN-1 was book five of six wot I had wrote when I was first published.

12: How do you keep calm when interviewers ask really inane questions - ones that show that they haven't read the book and/or haven't read many books at all it seems?!

I spent twenty years in the film and advertising industry so am well placed to understand just how important marketing and publicity is. There is no mileage in getting out of my pram with anyone, so I just get on with it and try to give them what they need to write their article. They've got a job to do and if I can help them do it, perhaps they will be kind to me and my books.

13: How about if there was enough demand after the five books hopefully when (not if) they are published, would you then go on and write one of Millon de Floss' essays/novels? Or would you try and pad the TN books out into another couple of stories as with the Hitch Hikers Guide trilogy in five parts? (Charles)

I'll go as far with Thursday as I can before I begin to lose interest and the ideas become formulaic. If I get bored, it will show. Thursday's world is a broad palette so I can't really see myself running out of ideas; what I worry about is having to keep track of everything that has happened to her already.

14: What kind of reaction did you get when getting the Porsche sprayed? (Adam)

Shaking of heads, smiles, tutting, mostly incomprehension - but no violent disagreements.

15: How often do you read the Ffphorum? and

I try to keep up to date but when I am very busy and the forum has been humming, I don't really have time. I am sent every post to my inbox so I can skim it for anything vulgar or disagreeable. When I'm less busy I will happily sit down and see what's going on. Because I am a writer and tend to think up scenarios all the time (in real life it's called vacant day-dreaming) I have this idea that a couple will meet on the Fforum, get married and I am invited to the wedding. Incidentally, there is a couple who contacted me and said that if their unborn is a girl, they will name her Thursday. I am honoured. And so is TN.

16: other than your own, what's your favourite website? (both Dave)

I log on every week to 'The Onion' as it has a sense of humour most in tune with my own. If you haven't read the Onion's 'Our Dumb Century' yet, you must. For US humour (sorry, humor) it is rare and unique.

17: Why haven't you mentioned Chippenham yet? It's smack bang in the middle of Thursday country, you can't avoid it. (Lycanthra Pod)

Chippenham. Have I not? I have a 90 minute filmscript set in Chippenham entitled 'Bad Sofa' which is about a demonically possessed gold dralon sofa. It has yet to be made.

18: Is there any book that you hold in such a sacred regard that you wouldn't let Thursday go into it and 'mess around', as it were, with the story? Not that she means to, but you know how she is... (Sarah B)

I don't think so. The books I hold in high regard I like her to go into - they just have to be in the public domain for me to be able to do so. TN-3 has more contemporary characters and books and we had to have permission to use them. Enid Blyton, Kipling, Beatrix Potter, Alfred Bester and Evelyn Waugh very kindly gave permission, AA Milne, HG Wells and Walter De La Mare didn't.

And here are the questions from the Whatever Next team;

19: Do you see yourself always writing in this genre (whatever genre it is), or do you have ambitions to write in other fields an account of your adventures in the film industry, for instance?

I jokingly refer to a book that I haven't written yet as 'My Serious Book' but I don't know what will be in it. I have a sneaking suspicion that no matter how serious I try to write, something inexplicable will start to happen by chapter three. If you turn to page 370 of your Hodder copy of TN-2 (397 in the US copies) you will find this passage:

"As I wandered down to sub-basement six, Exchange Programme docket in hand made out to someone named Briggs, I felt more relaxed than I had for weeks. I found the correct book sandwiched between the first draft of an adventure in the Tasman seas and a vague notion of a comedy set in Bomber Command. I picked it up, took it to one of the reading tables and quietly read myself into my new home."

Well, since she is on floor six that must be 'F' for Fforde, and since the book she stays in is unpublished and is mine, it follows the ones next to it must also be mine. The adventure in the Tasman sea is a semi-finished book titled 'It was a dark and stormy night', and is set on board an ex-Q-ship in 1924. The 'comedy set in Bomber Command' relates to a notion I have - a sort of Harry Flashamanesque thing but during the second war. Reluctant hero causing unintentional mayhem around the theatre of war sort of thing. Keen eyed readers will also spot Thursday talking to Antonio from 'It was a dark and stormy night' when she tests the footnoterphone for the first time. Curiously, in Thursday's world I am a much more published author than I am here...

20: Speaking of films, if TEA and/or LIAGB were to be made into movies, who would you love to see in the main roles? Especially Thursday, Acheron, and Jack Schitt? (And Twila suggests that you write the screenplays as well! Even if it means we have to wait a little longer between books (gasp!) I think she's on her own there).

I'm really not sure. Since I can make films, I would insist on doing it - but collaborate on the scripts as directors filming their own material is seldom a good idea. I'd like to use all unknowns or even create a Thursday Next world in the still-young art of high-res animation. If you have seen a film called 'Final Fantasy', you have a vague idea of the creative freedom that such a project will allow. But, y'know, when it comes to making movies there is nothing quite so fun or exciting as putting actors in front of a camera. Perhaps it's not a movie. Perhaps it's a high-quality 6 X 1 hour for TV. Could I condense TN-1 into 90 minutes? Probably not. We'd have to lose Landen or Thursday's Dad or Spike or something and the fun of my books, I think, is the multitudinous storylines.

21: How did you get into flying? Do you get to fly much these days?

Dad flew in the war and assailed myself and my brothers with total silence over what he actually did. I think that made it seem very exciting when in fact it probably wasn't. When I finally got him to talk about it the most exciting and hilarious episode was when a student selected 'undercarriage up' instead of 'flaps up' on the ground, digging an expensive hole in the ground with the propellor. Much of the war was, for him, as it was for many people, tiresome and occasionally very frightening. He was never frontline and despite numerous bombing missions over Burma, was never shot at once - but the squadron lost an average of one bomber a month (eight men) due to engine failure, fuel exhaustion or navigation problems. One aircraft was lost in the jungle thirty minutes after takeoff and they never found it. When I gained my pilot's licence he gave me his old RAF wings. He bequeathed me his logbook and dogtags when he died.

22: We don't know of many writers (all right, we don't know of any .) who have such a fan-oriented website. Is this part of some deep-laid marketing plot, or is it just because it's fun? And if the latter, is it fun?

Well, when Hodder mooted the idea of a website they were going to host it which meant a very second-hand link between me and the readership. I wanted more direct contact so Mari and I decided to learn HTML and do it all ourselves. For author website research we looked at the grand total of none, preferring to do what we thought best. The site has evolved slightly but the central idea of the direct link is still there - a sort of 'after sales service' for the readership.

23: Is there anywhere you really want to go that you haven't been to yet?

Writing wise or travel wise? To both, plenty.

24: What does 'bobbilicious' actually mean?

Where does this appear? Is this one of mine? 'Crumbobbilous' is an Edward Lear creation, 'Moggilicious' is a cat food. Bobbilicious I'm not sure about.

25: What's the strangest question anybody has emailed you?

Do you have room for this? Okay, here we go:

Emailer: intertextuality works both ways. yours sincerely, xxxxx xxxxx

Confused Author: Er.... don't understand. JF

Emailer: intertextuality...from a Bahktinian notion developed by Julai Kristeva...wherein, in the postmodern era ther is no 'pure' originality, as any given item in a text refers to (at least one other) another text... and while you [JF] play with characters from sources other than your imagination in your work - eg: Jane Eyre - and the beautifully punned Millon de Floss there are others who played that game before you...and still more who may take that notion and run with it...

Confused Author: Dear xxxxx xxxx, Ah-ha! The intentionally cryptic approach eh? - In that case I failed - Oops, must try harder. Bahktinian, Kristeva... the names mean nothing to me! - Oh, the clear-headed and innocent benefits of forgoing further education! Imagine being free of the shackles of academia, naming your own animals in the garden of Eden as Adam did - I have the freedom of the fool, the range of the patchily self-taught - a canvas unsullied through my own ignorance! For a writer, it is heaven!

Contrite emailer: dear JFf, yeah - sorry - just one of those 'cryptic' moments that hit you at silly hours of the morning...no need to try harder at all! hardly your responsibility...i only know about Bakhtin, Kristeva et al cos i went back to uni after an accident whilst travelling in asia....for want of anything better to do while i recovered, i thought i'd best try and use my brain...i'd led that clear-headed and innocent (well...intellectually uninformed) existence for quite a while..

26: Are you ever tempted to move all your books to better positions in bookshops?

Of course! Doesn't everyone? I kind of worried I'll get caught, though and they'll say something like: 'Sorry, I haven't heard of you. Who were you again?' But I always put my books cover-out on the shelves, but not if that means covering Katie Fforde's as she is too pleasant a person to do an authorial dirty on.

27: If there was to be a hideous nanomachine that was either going to eat books or airplanes, which would it have to be?

Aeroplanes, I guess. I could live without them (just) but not without books.

28: How are your bookshelves organised?

In my office I have two walls covered by shelves. Six high, 130 ft in total. Just over a thousand books.

Top shelf: Biggles, Worrals and Gimlet collection, then spare copies of my books, then aviation.
Second Shelf: Fiction, alphabetically. From Allende's Of Love and Shadows to John Wyndham's Chocky.
Third Shelf: Plays and poetry, film related.
Fourth shelf: Reference books and Biographies.
Fifth shelf: Historical and military, nature and wildlife. Travel
Sixth shelf: Art and photographic, back issues of Pilot, Fortean Times and National Geographic, early copies of TN, filing.

29: And, finally (phew), do you have any message for your, er, adoring fans out there? (Other than sign up for Whatever Next now, obviously).

Er... keep spreading the Nextian word? (Purely selfish, you understand. I want to stay an author. You know, I really kind of like it. I hope it shows.)

Questions set by members of the Fforde Ffan Club

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