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Derek Landy has a problem. He knows his “Skulduggery Pleasant” children’s books click with readers: They’re hugely popular in the U.K., nipping at the heels of the “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” series. But they haven’t caught on yet in the biggest market, the United States.
But the 35-year-old Dubliner, also the writer of “a zombie movie and a slasher thriller in which everybody dies” (“Dead Bodies” and “Boy Eats Girl”) has lots of enthusiasm (!!!) and a solution. With only three books published in a planned ninebook series, he has time on his side. And, hoping to prove to his publisher that coming stateside will help, he’s making his first promotional visit to the states.
On the theory that it’s nice to let writers write, we caught up with him via e-mail.
Q. It’s a pretty cheeky concept, this idea of a wisecracking skeleton detective (named Skulduggery Pleasant) as your hero. How did the idea come to you, and what made you realize you might actually pull it off ?
A. I’d love to be able to say that Skulduggery has lived in my imagination for years before writing the first book, but really, he popped into my head one evening while I was in a horrible hotel in London, and just refused to leave.
This had NEVER happened to me before, but his name flashed into my mind, and this told me exactly who he was, what he was, and what he was like. I wasn’t even looking for a character ... I remember being hungry, so I was probably thinking about the doughnut shop outside my hotel window ...
I knelt by the bed in this horrible hotel room, which didn’t even have a desk, and I wrote a conversation between Skulduggery and an unnamed girl. The conversation flowed, the dialogue was as fast and snappy as anything I’d ever written, and that’s when I had my first inkling that I could possibly do this.
Q. Did you know it was for the children’s market then and there, or did that come later? And what have you discovered from having kids as a primary audience?
A. Within 60 seconds of having the idea, I’d decided the best way to tell this story was to tell it to a younger audience. I figured they’d at least give me a chance.
They’re less forgiving than an adult audience, but more accepting, and that’s what I needed.
The most rewarding thing about writing for children is the sheer enthusiasm with which they greet new ideas. As long as you respect them, they’ll trust you to tell your story, and then they’ll read your story again and again until the next book falls into their hands.
Q. For what it’s worth, my voracious-reader boys, 8 and 11, are heavily into the series now, thanks to this assignment. But even though they are total series hounds, this one hadn’t been on their radar before.
A. To be honest, it’s a struggle to be noticed! The children’s book market is just so vibrant these days. (I’d) probably have an easier ride if our good guy didn’t look like a bad guy. But hey, that’s part of his charm!
Q. So are your redoing the covers? What’s the plan?
A. HarperCollins is in the difficult position of trying to sell a living skeleton as a charming, fast-talking hero — a concept which the younger generation seem to embrace, but which their grandmothers, in the stores searching for a book that won’t give their grandchildren nightmares, tend to shy away from out of sheer principle! Finding a way to convince these nice people that, really, I am not out to give anyone nightmares, is proving troublesome.
Q. Are there other kids books you particularly like or dislike, and where do you think yours fit on the mind-candy-to-literature and socially-disruptive-to-socially redeeming scales?
A. I always point to “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman, “Abarat” by Clive Barker, or “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman as examples of works to which I can only dream about aspiring. Steven Spielberg was gracious enough to say that I had the best imagination of anyone he’d encountered in the last 10 years, but really, I have nothing compared to these people. But I do so love to name drop ...
As for where the Skulduggery books sit on the literature scale, I’d say around a, uh, 14. Just don’t ask me what the scale goes up to.
Q. You’ve talked about having had a stutter since childhood. Has that had a major impact on your work?
A. I think it’s made me focus on dialogue in general, because for so long I was kind of an outsider to conversations. In school I’d stand there with the perfect comeback, the perfect joke, but I’d never even attempt to say it.
I’ve always had a deep love of the kind of rapid-fire banter you get with Bogart and Bacall, “His Girl Friday,” and all those glorious screwball comedies. Combine that with an almost obsessive appreciation for tough-guy dialogue as written by Elmore Leonard and Joe R. Lansdale, and you pretty much have my style. I think my stutter has absolutely had a major impact on my work, and I’m really glad it did.
