It was a real treat to speak to award-winning children’s author Alastair Chisholm for my latest author talk.
As well as a career in computer programming, Alastair has written 20 books for young people, including the super fun Dragonstorm series (narrated by yours truly), and his new book I Am Raven has come out in the last couple of weeks.
I Am Raven follows on from I Am Wolf, a post-apocalyptic place where enormous mechanical beasts known as Constructs roam the land. These beasts are home to different tribes, each of whom contributes to the existence and movement of their Construct through a communal spiritual connection.
The concept is just very cool – giant techno-organic animals piloted by tribes battling it out in a dystopian landscape is so immediate and fun.
From the band of main characters, all younger members of different Constructs, we initially follow Coll, a young member of Wolf before shifting to principally follow Brann, from Raven, in the second book. The series explores themes of leadership, survival, tribalism, and community, while also being a rollicking good time.
You can watch or listen to our conversation and there are notes and a reading list below. Enjoy!
Notes
Bursts of Inspiration
"I Am Wolf" popped into Alastair’s head as a single phrase, and though he initially didn’t know what it meant, it became the foundation of the story. He let his imagination take over, exploring various directions until the world and characters took shape.
“Usually when I’m writing, I have a kind of concept that I’m thinking about... Whereas with this one, I was just walking along one day and suddenly this expression, ‘I am Wolf,’ came into my head."
Cinematic Sensibility
Using perspectives from different media helps to think about how to depict scenes on the page and make them easily imaginable for readers:
"Quite often when I'm writing, I'm imagining what it would look like if it was a film. I’m imagining, you know, this is where the camera would be. This is what it would sound like. This is the rumble that you would feel in the cinema."
I love how this approach makes the reading experience so vivid and sensory, helping a reader anchor writing in ways they recognise – I’ll think about it for my own writing.
Using Your Background
When building fantastical worlds, Alastair stresses the importance of consistency, ensuring that the rules of the world are grounded and immersive.
“I can take all of the stuff that I’m doing in my programming and all this sort of passion for that and I can put it in the books... I can do the techno babble, I can see what’s possible and what’s easy and what’s hard.”
He uses his technological background to inform the mechanical constructs, inspired by real-world concepts like self-assembling blocks, and the later interactions with software and computer networks.
His experiences also inform his character development, whether that’s the teenage rage and confusion in Coll or the techie, snippy vibe of Rieka and with more sensitive topics like Coll’s limb difference, Alastair works closely with subject matter experts for accuracy.
Cover Design
“You want a book which is absolutely going to convey the feeling in the book and the movement in the book.”
The covers and the maps of I Am Wolf / I Am Raven were illustrated by an Icelandic tattoo artist, who brought a unique and striking aesthetic, mixing mythological and technical in a way that perfectly matched the tone of his series.
On Writing for Children
Alastair has a deep respect for children of 8-12 as an audience, acknowledging their capacity for big themes and emotions as well as being incredibly discerning readers, capable of spotting when a story feels inauthentic.
“At that age, they can cope with that sophistication and these big questions. But they're also still willing to step out there and actually just imagine a different world.”
We finished with an amazing perspective on world-building and storytelling where Alastair explained it’s ok to not clear up absolutely everything, thereby leaving room for children to take a story and run with it themselves.
"When you're writing for children, you're writing for them to take that story and run with it. You're not writing for them to sort of say, 'OK, I’ve given you everything. You’re done now.' You're writing for them to say, 'I’ve got that and now I’m going to make it my own.'"
Reading and Influences
Here are the books Alastair mentioned along the way, for both children and adults:
"The Grey King" by Susan Cooper
Part of The Dark is Rising series, this fantasy novel follows a boy wizard in the Welsh mountains.
"This book in particular, I absolutely loved because it's very evocative. It takes place in the Welsh mountains. It's got really amazing characters. And the thing about this book was that it really stuck in my head. And years later, I understood that this was the book that made me realise that the books you care about, the books that live in you forever, are the ones about people."
Arthurian Legend & The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
"I love them. And of course, you know, they're the full on fantasy adventures, big emotions, big striving, and failure, which is quite unusual."
The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall
A World War II novel about a group of children in England who find and play with a machine gun, exploring themes of childhood and war.
What Doesn’t Kill Us by A.J. Close
Set in the 1970s, this novel deals with the rise of militant feminism and the backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper case, focusing on women's relationships during this turbulent time.
James Bond Series (by Ian Fleming)
The iconic spy thrillers following the adventures of secret agent James Bond as he battles international villains in exciting, high-stakes missions.
find Alastair
I Am Raven (amazon / independents)
Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.
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