Lev Grossman
About Author
Lev Grossman is the author of five novels for adults, including the No.1 New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy, which has been published in 30 countries. A TV adaptation of the trilogy is now in its fourth season as the top-rated show on Syfy.
Grossman is also an award-winning journalist who spent 15 years as the book critic and leading technology writer at Time magazine. He has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Village Voice and Buzzfeed, among many others.
A graduate of Harvard and Yale, he lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
Interview
THE SILVER ARROW
BLOOMSBURY CHILDREN'S BOOKS
SEPTEMBER 2020
Get ready for the ride of your life in THE SILVER ARROW by LEV GROSSMAN - a train that travels around the world, picking up animal passengers and finding safe places to return them to the wild... Look out for magic, danger, and twists along the way, together with a great message about respecting and helping our environment.
When Kate asks her Uncle Herbert for a birthday present, she doesn't expect a massive train to arrive in their garden. But soon Kate and her brother Tom are setting off on incredible adventures around the world...
We asked LEV GROSSMAN to tell us more about THE SILVER ARROW!
Q: You already write for adults, so what brought you into writing for children?
A: I have three children of my own, so I spend a lot of time telling them stories, and reading them books. It started to feel like a very natural way to write. I found it challenging - writing for children is at least as hard as writing for adults - but really rewarding too. Children aren't ironic or self-conscious about reading. When they fall in love with a story, they fall in love completely.
Q: How does your writing day go - and what keeps you at your desk? What are your worst writing habits?
A: I love writing. I'm a little addicted to it. I rent an office about a mile from my house, and if all goes well I drop my children off at school and then write in my office until their nanny leaves for the day, around 5:00. Though it rarely all goes well. My worst writing habits? There are certain words that I use too much, like "little," and "slightly," and "felt." And my characters "sigh" too much.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your new book, The Silver Arrow?
A: The Silver Arrow is about a girl named Kate who is bored and restless. Then she gets an unusual present for her 11th birthday: an actual full-size steam train. It takes her on a lot of adventures, mostly helping animals, who need a lot of help these days. Also the steam train can talk. It's a little sarcastic but basically very nice.
Q: What inspired this story of a fabulous, magical steam locomotive?
A: A lot of things! I love trains. I love technology, and I liked the idea of writing a story in which a girl has to master a huge, steaming, snorting machine. Trains are wonderful for stories because they take you amazing places, and they also are amazing places. You can explore inside them as well as outside.
Q: How much did you know about steam trains before you started this story - have you made any journeys by steam? Is The Silver Arrow based on a real train?
A: I've been on steam trains, but I learned a lot more about them writing The Silver Arrow. They're incredibly complicated and elegant - they're like giant iron steam-powered computers that explode if you make a mistake. The model for the Silver Arrow is the Pennsylvania Railroad 7002, a very fast, very beautiful steam train that was built in 1903. You can see one in the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum.
Q: During their journey on the Silver Arrow, siblings Kate and Tom meet a range of animals and birds who journey with them. How did you decide which creatures to include?
A: It was hard! I wanted a mix of animals - not too many of one kind. Some furry ones, some spiky, some scaly and so on. Some common, some rare. They're all so fascinating. I saw a fishing cat for the first time in a zoo in Sydney, Australia, and I immediately knew I wanted to write about one.
Q: If you could chat with any animal in our world, as Kate and Tom do, which would you choose?
A: Probably a snake. They're so strange and different from us - no limbs, no nose, no ears, no eyelids. We project a lot of negative feelings onto snakes. I think they'd have a lot to say back to us.
Q: There is a strong environmental message in this story, what would you like your readers to take from Kate and Tom's adventure?
A: Hope. The scientific consensus is that humanity has seriously damaged earth's climate - but there's no point in wallowing in guilt and regret. That doesn't help anybody. We have to look forward and find a way through. We owe it to the animals.
Q: If you could join the Silver Arrow on any part of its journey, where would you want to go?
A: The desert. The Sahara, if possible, or maybe the Namib. I grew up and now live on the east coast of the US, where it's cool and rainy. I've always wanted to see the deep desert.
Q: Did you want the book to be illustrated? What did you think when you saw a finished copy with the illustrations? Did any stand out for you?
A: I wanted illustrations, but I was nervous! I'm not used to collaborating on my books. But I love them. There's one particular drawing, a two-page spread of the Silver Arrow at night, with its windows glowing ... it made me want to ride the Silver Arrow and never come back.
Q: Will Kate and Tom be journeying with the Silver Arrow again? Can you tell us about their next adventure?
A: They will. But I can't tell you about it yet. I haven't even told the publishers! It's top secret.
Q: What are your favourite escapes from writing? Are you someone who likes to travel, like your young adventurers, or are you an armchair traveller?
A: I love traveling. It's one of the hardest things about the pandemic, not being able to travel. I had some wonderful trips planned for this summer - I was going to Cornwall, and the Aeolian Islands. But at least we have the next best thing, which is reading.
The Silver Arrow
