Joseph Delaney

If Joseph Delaney has a secret to writing then it must be persistence.
Rejected “at least 96 times� before he finally achieved writing success at the grand old age of 58, the former English teacher is living proof that if you believe in something you should stick with it. At least to a certain extent.

Although Joseph has stuck to writing, it wasn’t until he switched from writing adult science fiction to children’s fantasy fiction that his long deserved success arrived.
Even after gaining an agent Joseph had to face ten years of rejection before he received a publishing contract.
“The Spook’s Apprentice is proof of the value of a writer keeping a notebook,� says Joseph.
“My agent asked me to write a children’s book, about 10,000 words. And I had a month to do it.�
After agreeing to the project Joseph then had to find an idea for his story.
“I keep notebooks and have done for many years. They aren’t fancy books, just an old school exercise book but I write down interesting ideas that come to me.�
And it was while thumbing back through an old exercise book which detailed a visit to Stalmine in 1983 that the germ of an idea came to him.
“The place had a local boggart (a kind of poltergeist that can be helpful and also mischevious). I had an idea for a story about a man who would get rid of boggarts for a fee.�
The result was The Spooks Apprentice, the story of Thomas Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son who has been apprenticed to the local Spook. The job is hard, the Spook is distant and many apprentices have failed before him. Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches and bind boggarts. But when he is tricked into freeing Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the County, the horror begins .
The book has led to a series of novels known as The Wardstone Chronicles and the fifth Spooks book, The Spooks Mistake is due out in June.
I met up with Joseph as he was in Crosby to help launch Sefton Council’s Year of Reading.

Jane: You used to be an English teacher but you still wrote stories. How did you fit it all in?
Joseph: I first started writing in my 20s but as my career progressed and my family grew (he has three children) it was difficult. My wife was a post lady and she used to get up very early, around 4am. I didn’t get up then but I did start to wake at around 6am, and write until 7.15am when I got ready for work. Luckily I am retired from teaching now and have more time.

Jane: How do you write?
Joseph: Up until this year I have written one book a year. But next year I will be writing two including one for World Book Day 2009. I usually start work on a new book in January and spend until April writing the first draft. After that it’s revising and redrafting. I can’t sit down for a set number of hours. I find most of my ideas come when I am not actually writing, when I am doing something else. I was sitting drinking a coffee at Preston railway station this morning when it suddenly came to me how to resolve a plot problem I had. That’s how it tends to work for me.

Jane: You write in the first person. Why?
Joseph: I think first person is a much easier way to read, especially for children. Once you get the voice it is easy to write and the plot flows well.

Jane: How much of what you write comes from your own experiences?
Joseph: A lot. Before I became a teacher I was an apprentice fitter and I have taken some of those ideas of being an apprentice into the plot. When I was a young boy I would have a recurring nightmare that I would be dragged through the coal hole and that idea is used in The Spook’s Apprentice but the coal hole has been changed into a cellar.

Jane: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Joseph: If you want to write you have to be disciplined and find time. If you can’t write every day, write every week. Use a notebook and keep it with you. I may only use one out of 20 ideas but if they aren’t there then you have nowhere to start. And read. You absorb so much without even realizing it. Reading is very important.

To find out more about Joseph and TheWardstone Chronicles visit www.spooksboooks.com

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