Rachel Delahaye

Mort the Meek and the Monstrous Quest
Rachel Delahaye

About Author

Rachel writes darkly funny books for children, including the hilarious Mort the Meek books (The Monstrous Quest, The Raven's Revenge) and the Grim Reaper series.

After studying linguistics, Rachel embarked on a career in journalism. She has worked in London, Sydney and Melbourne. She now lives in Bath, and while she has vowed never to move again, her imagination has refused to settle down. She's now writing children's fiction.

 

Author link

www.racheldelahaye.com

Interview

Mort The Meek and the Monstrous Quest (Little Tiger Press)

January 2022

Mort The Meek and the Monstrous Quest
is a hilarious tale of meek versus might, brain versus brawn....oh, and a sea monster, some dancing lobsters and a fierce girl who can't sing!  We asked author Rachel Delahaye to tell us more!

Q&A with Rachel Delahay


1.    What brought you into writing for children?

I have always loved writing, since I was very small, and for most of my life I had a career in journalism, writing articles for magazines and newspapers.

I didn't start writing for children until just a few years ago. The idea came to me when I was reading a particular bedtime story to my own children. That book was You're A Bad Man, Mr Gum by Andy Stanton. It made me laugh so much, I had trouble reading it aloud. I kept spluttering and snorting. I had never read anything quite like it - I didn't realise they even published such sublime silliness.

Soon after, I wrote a series about a boy whose father is DEATH, called Jim Reaper. It wasn't quite as crazy as Mr Gum, but it had funny moments. Now, several years later, I'm still writing comedy and I'm writing other styles of books, too.


2.    Can you tell us a little about Mort the Meek, and his new adventure The Monstrous Quest?

Well, you know how in The Ravens Revenge, Mort lived on a terrible, ugly, mean island called Brutalia? Yes? Well, he still lives there. And so does the Queen, unfortunately, with her revolting dress sense and mean demeanour (which is mean in lots of ways).

This time the Queen is feeling quite jolly, as she's just discovered that she's descended from a family of Gods. She sends everyone off to find trinkets and trophies befitting a god. Mort uses this as excuse to search for his family, which is missing at sea. Only, his shipmate isn't his best friend, Weed, but a rather spiky girl called Punky. They couldn't be more different - but the appearance of a sea monster changes their course, and pulls them together in unexpected ways.

You can watch the brilliant Mort the Meek and the Ravens Revenge (book 1)  here:

 

3.    Is this the kind of book you would have loved to read as a child?

I didn't come across anything like this in the library when I was younger - although I did love Spike Milligan and Monty Python (which has had a huge influence on my sense of humour) so I suppose I would have found this funny. Generally, however, I loved reading adventure sci-fi and fantasy.


4.    Life in Brutalia is pretty grim. How did you create the setting, and is it based on somewhere you know?!

Luckily, I know nowhere like Brutalia. And I'd be alarmed if any of you do. I needed to create a place that would be uncomfortable for a gentle pacifist to live - a place that would challenge him every day, so the reader can see how he copes with the barrage of nastiness, and how strong his beliefs are to be able to put up with it. So, everything, from the shape of the island to the way of life on it, is hostile and full of revoltingness.


5.    What was your favourite invention for Brutalia?

My favourite invention is the Punishment of the Day, which is the only creativity the Queen shows. It's such fun, thinking of ridiculous punishments to show off her utter horribleness and lack of compassion - and a great opportunity to inject (very painful) humour into the story. Cactus pants, wasp baths, walking on hot coals... She really is a big meanie.

Another invention I have to mention is Brutalia's resident ravens, who appeared originally only as background characters when I began describing the island in the first book - they didn't stay in the background for long. They muscled their way to the very front.


6.    How would you plan on surviving if you found yourself on Brutalia?

I would definitely send a pigeon with a message to Ono Assunder, who lives on nearby Dead Man's Island (which is nicer than it sounds) and I'd ask her to come and get me. I don't think I'd survive a day on Brutalia. I would probably say something rude to the Queen and find myself eating an urchin with the spikes still on, or whatever fate she had planned for every disobedient citizen that day.


7.   Do you have a favourite character illustration by George Ermos?  Which of the characters would you least enjoy meeting? 

George's illustrations of the Belgo - the three-armed monster - is amazing, and I love the one of Mort and Punky on the boat, looking at the huge creature, who happens to be throwing a shark. He really does bring the story to life. I am so lucky to have him working on these books.

The character I would least enjoy meeting would the Queen. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about her, and one day I may explore why that is. But in the meantime, while she has no excuse for being a rotten meanie, I would steer well clear. Not only does she like causing people pain and humiliation, she also has no respect for animals - and quite often uses them as fashion accessories. Gross!


8.    Mort has already survived a couple of quests. Do you have more life-threatening adventures planned for him?

There is another one, yes . . . After that, who knows. I certainly don't want to make endless Morts just because I can. He deserves strong stories with a strong message.


9.    It's hard to guess what might happen next in Brutalia - how do you plot Mort's adventures?

I think of what situations Mort might struggle with as a pacifist - in the The Ravens' Revenge, he has to stand by his principles even when's it's easier to just do what's expected, and in The Monstrous Quest, Mort has to deal with his own desire for revenge. I won't tell you what the third one is about just yet, but they are all scenarios where Mort is challenged and tested.


10.    Brutalia is grim, so how do you still manage to make your readers laugh. What's the secret to getting readers giggling?

I call it the stretch and snap. Actually, I don't. I just made that up. But essentially it's that - it's where you stretch out a situation that is painful or uncomfortable or scary, and then you suddenly snap the tension by saying something ridiculously silly. That joke or funny situation is made funnier by the tension that leads up to it, and it also erases any fear. So it has a double purpose.

For instance, you could write a scene with a ghost and make it spookier and spookier and spookier and then - FWARP - the ghost farts and scares itself away. Sorry to stoop to the most base form of toilet humour, but it works. No more fear and lots of laughs. You've explored spookiness, and then been rescued from nightmare by utterly silliness.


11.    Where and when do you do your best writing?

I'll admit I haven't experimented much - I always write at my desk in my office, which is full of plants. My dog, Rocket, sits on a sofa next to my desk, and I'd probably get a lot more done if he wasn't there. Have you ever seen a Labrador begging for a walk? It's quite disruptive! A lot of writing is thinking and that, however, is best done on woodlands walks or in the bath. Or in a bath in the woods. I'm guessing that, as I haven't tried it.


12.    What keeps you going as a writer - snacks / breaks / music?

None of those. Coffee, tea and water. I actually write better on an empty stomach so I avoid all the biscuits that writers are usually famed for consuming. I can't listen to music, either, because if I do, I end up thinking 'oooh, what lovely music' instead of writing.


13.    If you weren't an author, what would be your career of choice - and would it involve death-defying choices??

I'm a scaredy cat so don't go thinking I'd be a pirate or a trapeze artist or a bear wrestler. I'd be a stage actress - performing to a live audience (instead of a dead one - it's a weird expression, isn't it?). It's so thrilling. Things can go wrong, you can forget your words, but at the end, when everyone is clapping, it's electric. And yes, although I hate her guts, I would LOVE to play someone evil, like the Queen (the Queen of Brutalia, that is - not the Queen of the United Kingdom, who is probably nice). Baddies, so long as they are kept inside stories, are such fun.

 

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