See the full interview on Sky Arts and Sky Arts HD at 7.00pm (GMT) Thursday 5th of May.
Archive for the 'interview' Category
Matt and the crew at Artemis-Fowl.com have setup a video interview with Eoin in the coming weeks. Submit your burning questions for Eoin at the address below:
Eoin Colfer about "And Another Thing" H2G2 6
Uploaded by nbotti. – Independent web videos.
Interview in Paris, March 2010 with thanks to Nicholas Botti of DouglasAdams.info
For those of you who don’t know – Eoin Colfer, the author of the phenomenally popular Artemis Fowl series, just released his first book for adults, the much anticipated sixth installment of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy saga (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; and So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish).
And guess what? Mr. Colfer will be HERE the week of November 9th! So if you have any questions or comments regarding his work in Douglas Adams’s literary universe or his Artemis Fowl saga, feel feel to start posting on this thread immediately!!!
A terrific interview from SFX in which Eoin deals with all of the tough questions on And Another Thing…
SFX: Are you hoping to bring back Hitchhiker’s for a new generation?
Colfer: I know Douglas said he was going to do a sixth book, so he had planned to bring it back. And that’s what Jane, Douglas’s widow, wants. It’s already working! Sales apparently have gone back up already, and they released the radio show out to iTunes now. So Hitchhiker’s has already been brought back a little bit by this, and I’m really hoping that when my book comes out people go back and check them all out. And they’re re-releasing the first one, I think, in a young adult edition. So we’re hoping that my book will bring Artemis Fowl readers into Hitchhiker’s, and that would be great.
Some people will think, “Oh, yeah, he’s doing this because he’s getting paid.” Well, obviously, I’m getting paid! But in all honesty, I get paid more for an Artemis Fowl book. So it’s not for money. I’m sure it’s going to sell. I hope it would sell loads! But there’s no movie rights or anything, which is usually a large part of my cheque. So it’s not a money thing. If it was a money thing, I would just change the characters and call it an Artemis Fowl book. I’m doing it because I couldn’t not do it.
I’m trying to think of a parallel – if you’re an unknown actor, it’s like, “Do you want to have a go at playing James Bond?” Or for a boxer like Rocky. “You wanna fight Apollo Creed?” That’s what it’s like for me: I just couldn’t say no, and I know there was a storm coming, but hopefully it won’t be too bad. But I still had to say, “Well, I gotta do this.”
SFX: Do you think the most devoted fans will accept you following in Douglas Adams’s footsteps?
Colfer: Just the idea, I think, of someone writing a Douglas Adams sequel is offensive to some people who feel very strongly, and I totally understand this. I get it, and I would probably feel the same myself but, hopefully, I would calm down and then I’d say, “Well, I’ll give it a go.” And I hope that’s what most people do – I think if they read the first page they’ll say, “Fair enough,” and go from there.
Three people could have taken this task on and got away with it, and that would be Stephen Fry and Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I think if any of those three had been asked, people would have just said, “Oh, okay.” But I’m in a position where I have to prove myself, and it’ll just come down to the book. If the story is good, most people will accept it.
I’m trying to avoid any sort of pre-judgment based on nothing, or based on me. You know, “Who’s he to write this book? He’s short! And.. he’s gray. So screw him!” You can’t defend yourself against that. You can’t really defend yourself against criticism. If someone says, “You’re bad,” you can’t say, “Well, no, I am not bad. How dare you?!” And they say, “Okay – right, you’re not.” It doesn’t work like that! People don’t change their minds.
Eoin’s talks to Matthew Peterson for The Author Hour. The programme also features Sir Terry Pratchett, Jody Lynn Nye and Piers Anthony.
Author Hour Promo Video
“Author Eoin Colfer has picked up were Douglas Adams left off and has written the sixth book in the Hitchhikers series and joins Ryan Tubridy along with The Blizzards frontman Niall Breslin who has released a song called And Another Thing for the launch of the book which is also called And Another Thing (Penguin/Michael Joseph)”
from the Ryan Tubridy Show. RTE Radio 1. October 16, 2009.
Eoin share’s his thoughts on writing the sixth book in the Hitchhikers trilogy with Jason Boog of MediaBistro’s GalleyCat blog in this short video clip.
Challenge and Change in Children’s Books
in association with the National Gallery of Ireland
The CBI summer conference is the largest annual Irish event dedicated to books for children. This year, we will be taking time to understand the opportunities and the challenges facing the sector at this time of fast paced change and development.
The conference is open to everyone with an interest in children’s books: writers, illustrators, parents, teachers, booksellers, librarians, publishers and policy makers.
This year’s line-up features both established and newer voices in children’s books and it is sure to be full of stimulation, debate and celebration.
1.30-2.30 Eoin Colfer in conversation with Robert Dunbar
Following the success of previous in-conversation sessions, Robert Dunbar returns to the CBI conference, this time to interview acclaimed author Eoin Colfer. Benny and Omar, Artemis Fowl and Airman will all be up for discussion, along with Eoin’s many other fantastic creations – and there may be even be time for a few questions about his new Hitchhiker’s Guide title as well!
Event Details
Big thanks to The Bookwitch and Charlie for sharing this excellent interview with us.
“Which thing do you love or hate the most about writing, and why?”
“I love being alone.” Very loud and disbelieving laughs. “No, it’s a great luxury for any person to have a couple of hours on their own, in their own office, to put on their own music. Like most Dads…, when you’re older and you’re a Dad Charlie, you will realise that you are the only person in the world that likes the music you like. For some reason when I put on good music in our house, that I paid for, everyone starts screaming that you’re an idiot. Even in the car now, as soon as I get in the car, my son is at the dial to change the radio station. So, when I’m in my office I can put on 1970s David Bowie,” loud laughs, “Led Zeppelin, and nobody says anything, and it’s fantastic. I’ve downloaded all my old CDs to iTunes and I just sit there and I listen to this music. It’s a huge luxury to do that, which most people do not have. When you’ve got kids you do not have two hours in the day to have your music going as you work, so I appreciate that. It’s really nice.
What I hate about it is, erm, I don’t think I hate anything about it. I don’t like the time when you send in a book and you’re waiting for your editor to get back to you, because you don’t know if it’s any good. You’ve been in your room for a year and a half and you’re too close to it. You’ve re-read it a hundred times, and you’ve forgotten what excited you about it, and what were the funny bits, and so you’re waiting for two weeks for the phone call from the editor. Luckily so far it’s been pretty good. I’ve had two editors killed.” Very loud laughs. “Only in my mind.” More laughing. “They’re still alive.”
Read the full interview here: