Martin Howard
About Author
Martin Howard writes absurdly funny books for children and he's here to tell us about his latest book, Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull - his favourite book so far!
Since starting out as a writer in 2005 Martin has written about 100 books for adults and children, fiction and non-fiction, and has been compared with Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and the Monty Pythons.
He lives in France with his wife, three children and a dog called Licky. You can find him on Twitter @MJHowardWrites
Interview
Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull (Nosy Crow)
September 2024
Look out for a talking skeleton, a creepy castle and ghosts aplenty in the gloriously gothic and fantastically funny new book by Martin Howard, Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull! This is a story that will get children talking, and reading. Martin Howard joins ReadingZone this month to talk about writing funny books for children, inspiration, and why he loves halloween.
Review: "Gruesome, gothic and so, so good."
Read a Chapter from Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull
Q&A with Martin Howard, author of Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull
"My philosophy on life and writing is spread the laughter. Alright, it's not a very sophisticated philosophy but
a deep understanding of the human condition probably won't leave you with a silly grin."
1. What brought you into writing for children, and what kinds of books do you enjoy writing?
Oh my, start with the simple questions, eh? Jinkies. Well, I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was very young. I was one of those kids that read under the blankets with a torch and was always getting in trouble at school for having a book open under the desk. I got my first review when I was seven, for a story about a dolphin ("Martin has a chatty style" - which is still true!).
I started out writing fantasy but a publisher offered me an opportunity to ghost write a children's book and I was instantly hooked. I still write fantasy for fun (it was my first true booky love) but sooner or later all the characters start making jokes and being ridiculous, so funny seems to be where I live. I don't think I'm capable of writing serious books.
2. What about when you're not writing - what keeps you entertained, and inspired?
Oh, all sorts of things. I'm curious about lots of stuff and still read all the time, everything from books about quantum physics (nope, still no idea how that works) to astrology and magic at the court of Elizabeth I, and lots of fiction, of course.
Because one of the characters in Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull reads tarot cards, I learned how to do that for a while and discovered that - like Aunt Lilith - I have no psychic talent whatsoever. I also play guitar and listen to music, love to cook, hang out with m'lovely family, and I'm lucky enough to live in a very beautiful part of France so I walk a lot.
Because I'm basically a nerdy fantasy kid I play Dungeons & Dragons at least once a week and every now and then I get caught up in a video game, the latest being Baldur's Gate 3. I also have an amazing group of friends who I've known since my early teens. They keep me constantly entertained. The only thing I don't do much is watch TV, unless it's something really good.
Mostly, I love to laugh, and that is my greatest inspiration. My philosophy on life and writing is spread the laughter. Alright, it's not a very sophisticated philosophy but a deep understanding of the human condition probably won't leave you with a silly grin.
"Mostly, I love to laugh, and that is my greatest inspiration."
3. Can you tell us what happens in your new book, Mallory Vayle and the Curse of the Maggoty Skull?
Of course. We meet Mallory at the funeral of her parents. Not - you might think - the best way to start a funny book, but since she has a strange ability to see and speak to her mum and dad's ghosts, it could be a lot worse.
At the funeral she meets her mother's long-lost sister, Mallory's Aunt Lilith, who is a fake psychic and who takes her to live at the very, very spooky Carrion Castle, which her aunt inherited in mysterious circumstances.
There, the plot thickens. The ghosts of Mallory's parents disappear and a mysterious voice leads her to the cursed-but-gorgeous Maggoty, whose spirit was trapped inside his own skull five hundred years earlier by an evil necromancer. He tells Mallory that she, too, is a born necromancer and the only way she will find her parents' ghosts is if she allows him to teach her how to use her deathly magic …
4. What inspired this story about an orphaned child, ghostly goings-on and a peevish talking skull? Did you enjoy writing it?
Oh wow, yes. I had an absolute ball writing it. I can usually tell if a book's going to turn out well if it makes me laugh, and it definitely did that.
The inspiration was Maggoty. For me, most books start with a character who demands to be written and this one started when Maggoty Skull just appeared in my head one day and started nattering at me. Everything else flowed from there.
5. Ah yes, the inimitable Maggoty, the hilarious bewigged talking skull who befriends Mallory (kind of), - he's genius! Can you tell us a bit more about him?
Thank you, I adore Maggoty too. I have no idea where he came from, he just appeared in my head, fully formed, about five or six years before I started writing the book. Originally, I intended to have him as the narrator of a bunch of grisly tales but he demanded to be part of a story, so I built one around him.
He and Mallory are the two sides of my own personality - one quiet and bookish, the other flamboyant and ridiculous. Because he's the complete opposite of Mallory and doesn't care at all what anyone thinks of him he can say the most outrageous things and is a joy to write. Probably the most fun I've ever had at the keyboard.
"I'd use my power for good, obviously. Fighting crime, bringing villains to justice, sneaking into
cinemas without paying. That sort of thing."
5. Orphaned Mallory, your lead character, can speak with dead people. As a trainee necromancer, she has many other spooky skills at her fingertips, too. Which of these skills would you enjoy having, and why?
Hmm, raising the dead and creating a zombie butler with dangling eyeballs might be useful, and hilarious, but if I was only allowed one, I'd go for shadow-walking. The power to detatch your own shadow and go anywhere where there is darkness - basically everywhere - sounds like a lot of fun. I'd use my power for good, obviously. Fighting crime, bringing villains to justice, sneaking into cinemas without paying. That sort of thing.
6. Have you visited any haunted places that helped inspire Carrion Castle, where Mallory goes to live with her aunt?
Although I love all things spooky - graveyards are fantastic places - I don't really believe in ghosts. That said, when we first moved into the house we live in now some very strange things happened.
The previous owner had died and for a couple of years doors would open by themselves and quite often my wife and I would hear footsteps approaching our bed at night. We'd turn on a light and the room would be empty and all the children asleep.
Once, when the rest of the family was away for a week, I found a photo of us all that had been in a frame in the bedroom down the toilet. No idea how that happened but I have a history of sleepwalking so maybe I did it myself. Whatever it was, it all seems to have stopped now.
8. What do the (fabulous!) illustrations by Pete Williamson bring to the story? Any favourite characters among his illustrations?
Pete's brilliant, isn't he? And you only have to look at the Skeleton Keys series to know he's a bit twisted (sorry Pete). I'm a bit twisted too, though, so his art goes excellently with the words.
The drawings of Mallory are my favourite. She looks exactly how she is in my imagination. With Maggoty being such a big character, I'm really glad he captured Mallory so well in every illustration because it's her story, really, and Pete seems to have completely understood that. Perhaps he's psychic?
"The good thing about funny, though, is that it takes the edge off the horror."
9. What's the creepiest moment in this story, and what else do you have planned for Mallory, Maggoty and the dark necromancer, Hellysh Spatzl?
There's plenty of creepy, and I did wonder if I'd gone a bit far for young readers once or twice. The good thing about funny, though, is that it takes the edge off the horror. Probably the creepiest moment is when Mallory first meets Hellysh, but with Maggoty wittering on in the background there is a nice mix of goose-bumps and giggles, I hope.
I'm in the middle of writing Book Two right now and I don't want to give any spoilers, but I can tell you that Aunt Lilith is going to do something very, very silly and to fix it, Mallory will have to delve even further into her powers.
It is much more Mallory's book, though of course Maggoty is with her every step of the way. We'll also meet a couple of new characters. I do know where the story is eventually headed, but I'm not sure how many books it will take to get there just yet. To be honest, they're so much fun to write that I'll happily take a windy road with detour adventures before we get to the end. Hopefully, people will want to read more!
10. Naturally there's a very halloween feel to this story - is it a favourite time of year for you? What will you be doing to celebrate next month?
Oh yes, Halloween is way better than Christmas, though I'm a firm believer that spooky is an all-year-round thing. I never need a special holiday to enjoy a creepy book or movie!
We used to throw a halloween party every year but now our children have grown up and gone off to university, me and my wife usually light a fire and a load of candles and watch our favourite silly-spooky movies with a big tub of popcorn. We both love trashy horror movies like Fright Night and old Hammer House of Horror films that are so bad they're hilarious. We'll usually start when the sun goes down with a couple of favourite episodes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and finish after midnight with a proper creepy old black and white horror movie.
Mallory Vayle and the Curse of Maggoty Skull
