Matt Haig

The Girl Who Saved Christmas
Matt Haig

About Author

Matt Haig was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire in 1975. Since then he has lived in Nottinghamshire, Ibiza and London. He studied English and History at Hull University and then did an MA at Leeds. He now lives in Brighton with the writer Andrea Semple and their two children.

Author link

www.matthaig.com/kids;

Interview

THE GIRL WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS

PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE

NOVEMBER 2016


After the success of A Boy Called Christmas, author Matt Haig returns to the magical Elfhelm to explore what becomes of Father Christmas in his new role.

The story is driven by Amelia, a character mentioned in the last chapter of the earlier book, because Father Christmas's magic depends on the hope of children. Amelia had hope in spades but devastating changes in her life have all but drained it - and so this year, Christmas might not arrive at all....

We asked MATT HAIG to tell us more about A GIRL CALLED CHRISTMAS:


Q: Had you always planned to write a sequel to A Boy Called Christmas?

A: I had always had the idea for the second book of stepping into the world of children who received presents from Father Christmas, rather than following what happened to Nickolas when he becomes Father Christmas. I wanted to explore why we need Father Christmas and the magic that comes with that.

Although it does follow on from the first book, I think it can be read on its own.


Q: Why did you choose a girl as the main character for this story, while in the first it's a boy?

A: The first book was inspired by my son Lucas asking me, what was Father Christmas like as a boy? That was the genesis of the idea. Originally I had planned to write two books, one about a boy and one about a girl called Christmas, but it felt like that was pushing the idea too far.

Also I really liked the idea of A Boy Called Christmas as an origins story but because it was an origins story I couldn't explore the world and doing a sequel means you can add more characters. The Girl Who Saved Christmas is a longer book than the first with more characters and more things going on. But it doesn't mean that more girls will read it than boys - in my events, there isn't a gender divide in who wants to read the books.


Q: This story could have been told at any time after the idea for Father Christmas emerged; why did you set it in the Victorian era?

A: I wanted a kind of Dickensian feel to the story and as so many of our Christmas traditions come from the Victorians, it seemed to make sense to set it then. In 1843, the year when Dickens's A Christmas Carol was published, Christmas cards were becoming a thing, there were Christmas crackers and Christmas trees - all the non-Biblical things came from then.


Q: We even get a glimpse of Charles Dickens himself - why did you draw him into your story?

A: The joy of writing children's books is the freedom you feel that you can literally go wherever you want; you can have fun. If I was strolling around Victorian London then who would I want to bump into? Charles Dickens. Every Christmas story I have liked was by Charles Dickens.

My only regret was that I wasn't able to include Charles Dickens's pet raven Grip; maybe next time.

I'm not trying to do anything radically new with these books, they are designed and written to be comforting reads. They feature sadness and human reality but ultimately, the books are uplifting.


Q: But you do give your central character in this story a very tough time?

A: Often children's Christmas stories have an element of darkness and Victorian times suit that. Christmas is generally in the middle of winter and it's about coming in from the dark. I gave Amelia the job of being a chimney sweep of course because Father Christmas comes down the chimney although girls weren't generally sweeps but I've always been obsessed with what a horrible job it is.

Amelia is an orphan and is taken to the workhouse by Mr Creeper and as a child, I loved those kinds of stories - as long as everything ends okay they can take toughness in the journey. The joy of a comfort book is that the character faces real difficulties and if you can see that character resolving it, it makes a child who is having a tough time perhaps at school perhaps feel better and that makes them stronger. If you're talking about hope, then more than anything you need things to be tough and that is what unites the stories A Boy Called Christmas and The Girl Who Saved Christmas. They both had a tough childhood and need the Christmas magic.


Q: Has Christmas always been a special time for you?

A: As a child I loved Christmas, I have always loved it, but especially when I was around the age of 11 or 12. I was at a school I didn't like and wasn't fitting in and I had a miserable three or four years, and that is when Christmas meant the most to me. I think it's that bit of childhood left that contains that magical element.


Q: Having written these two books, are you planning to return to Elfhelm with another book?

A: I enjoyed revisiting Elfhelm in this book. I think it's a little bit crazier because you can move on from the scene-setting in the first book so there are trolls and earthquakes, but at the same time I knew it had to be kept in the human world with Amelia.

There are going to be more Christmas books although I'm not sure if that will be following on from these stories or different stories using the main characters. It might not be a story about Christmas but about a character like the Truth Pixie. There probably will be a third book and it may include the Easter Bunny.... I think it will be looking at a girl, a human, in the Elf world.


Q: If you could bring anything back with you from Elfhelm, what would it be?

A: If they'd let me I'd probably want to bring back an elf, just as proof that magic is real and it would just cheer me up having an elf singing around the place. Blixen would be nice, too, and some of the sweet treats like gingerbread. I'd like a copy of the Daily Snow, too!

 


A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS

PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE

NOVEMBER 2015


If you have ever been asked by a curious child what Father Christmas was like before he grew up, then this is the book that you (and they) need to read.

Matt Haig's A Boy Called Christmas takes a step back from our modern day Father Christmas and other Christmas traditions, and explores how these traditions - the flying reindeer, the red hat, even gingerbread - might have come to be. We follow the journey of a kind-hearted boy called Nikolas (naturally) who eventually, after many adventures and a bit of magical help, grows up to become the mythical and revered Father Christmas.

The story's huge appeal at this time of year will make it a 'must have' gift in Christmas stockings for children aged eight years and over, but its Dahlesque darkness and wise insights on happiness also make it a wonderful story to share in classrooms in the run-up to that very special time of year.

We were delighted to speak to author Matt Haig (Shadow Forest, To Be A Cat) about A Boy Called Christmas and we asked him the following questions.


Q: Why did you want to write a book about Christmas?

A: The inspiration for the book came from my son who had asked me, what was Father Christmas like as a child? Father Christmas inspires a lot of questions so the book was a way to start answering them.

I am a real fan of Christmas, not because I'm particularly religious but I'm a fan of the cultural aspects of Christmas. As a child of the '80s, Christmas for me was about breaking up from school, highlighting the programmes I wanted to watch in the Radio Times, and going to Christingle on Christmas Eve.

One of the saddest things about growing up is the loss of the sense of Christmas as a special, unique thing and I definitely lost that sense of magic during my '20s but it was easy to get it back once I had children. They give you an excuse to feel that Christmas really is special and one of the reasons I wanted to write the book was to feel like a child again; the book was my way back into that feeling.

The plan was to start writing A Boy Called Christmas in November and to have it finished by Christmas Eve, but it didn't quite work out like that, so when I was writing about elf workshops in January, I had to dig deep to find that Christmas spirit!


Q: What was it like writing a story about Father Christmas, such an established and iconic figure?

A: It was quite a challenge but mainly because Father Christmas is this loveable, everyman father figure; it's quite a blank space and it's hard to write about pure goodness. Characters that are wholly good are hard to write about - you need conflict and contradictions in someone.

That was the challenge and if I had gone on to try to write about this old man in a red coat, it would have been hard; he is passive, benevolent and a wonderful person, but where is the story in that? However, someone becoming that person is easier because you automatically have a journey, a real journey and a metaphorical journey, to explore.


Q: During Nikolas's journey, you explore some of our most well know Christmas traditions might have come about. How did you choose which ones to cover?

A: There have been quite a few superhero movies about the origins of superheroes, like Wolverine. I thought that the ultimate superhero was Father Christmas and I thought I could take that approach with him. Don't you ever wonder how he met his reindeer, how he got his powers to do all those amazing things he does?

So the idea was to do a 'Marvel Comics' about how Father Christmas became what he became. I wasn't aiming to cover all the traditions but a few things like Christmas crackers, how his special outfit developed, the first time he said 'ho, ho, ho', and so on.

The actual myths of Father Christmas rarely change. The story is set in Scandinavia as they seem to have the earliest myths of Father Christmas but he wasn't called that then. By the eighteenth century, you could find the early themes and the character who became Father Christmas in Denmark, Sweden and Norway so I've drawn on those very early traditions.


Q: Do you have a favourite Christmas tradition?

A: Well, my favourite day during the Christmas period is actually Christmas Eve, that was the day of mince pies and mulled wine and I loved the sense of anticipation that everything is still to happen. I loved going to Christingle and singing carols and watching tele in front of an open fire.

Presents weren't the main thing about Christmas for us as children, although they were a key part of that. Seeing your stockings on the door handles in the morning, that was magic because of the knowing that Father Christmas had visited - and been that close to you - at Christmas.


Q: Why do you give Nikolas such as tough journey on his way to becoming Father Christmas?

A: I like to think most of my books are optimistic but there are dark things in every book I have written. I am drawn to the Grimm fairy tale-esque, that darkness of the fairy tale, orphans and foundlings.

I think you almost have a duty to recognise that life is not always one hundred percent perfect. It has great and wonderful times but for a child going through bad experiences, it's not wonderful to write that everything is great and perfect if they are not feeling like that.

The interest in finding Father Christmas as an adult is that there is a bit of darkness in the light; the darkness in his light becomes the reason for him to want to give happiness.


Q: Why did you decide to make Nikolas's relationship with his father so central to his story?

A: I always saw the story of Father Christmas as a natural father/son story because he becomes a father figure for children of the world. What I wanted to do to present the father (of Nikolas) as someone who is very human and not a perfect father. He's just very normal; he has goodness but also weaknesses in him.


Q: You also introduce a wonderfully vile character, Nikolas's aunt.

A: The aunt was definitely inspired by Roald Dahl's characters. I wanted a really nasty grown up and she was great fun; there's nothing more fun, after writing Father Christmas, than writing a horrible, evil person like her.


Q: Even your elves show a bit of the 'dark side'....

A: I wanted my elves to be somewhere between Tolkien's high fantasy elves and those slightly saccharine elves you see in every film about Father Christmas. So I didn't want them to be wholly sweet but also I didn't want a seriously po-faced fantasy world. I wanted it to be a fun story and not to take itself too seriously because at the end of the day, I'm writing about Father Christmas.


Q: It takes your Father Christmas a long time to decide what he wants to do with his life. How long did it take you to find your 'calling'?

A: People find this out at different ages. Some people just know from the age of eight that they want to be a vet; I was someone who was well into my 20s before I realised I was someone who wanted to be a writer. This is something that occupies children, too. Even though they live so much in the present, they are continuously thinking about what they want to be as adults.


Q: There is a lot of emphasis in the story on being happy and finding happiness. Do you think it's becoming harder for modern children to be just happy?

A: It's very hard to see which generation has it harder, but I think there are more challenges and distractions for children today. Children now face some of the same challenges adults face with tests at every age and peer pressure times ten, and social media; these are all grown up pressures and the world is not set up in a way that prioritises happiness. That is sad, especially for children; if they lose happiness as a priority there is no hope for anyone.

I'm an optimistic person, but I do have worries about the amount of pressures we put on children and the lack of time we are able to give them.


Q: A Boy Called Christmas includes some wonderful line drawn illustrations by Chris Mould. Had you always planned that it would be illustrated?

A: I hadn't planned it but I wrote the story in a very visual way and, once it was finished, I thought it would be logical to have it illustrated and my publisher agreed. When I saw Chris Mould's work I thought he was perfect because he is so versatile and illustrates with a lot of heart. Also he has a fairytale quality to some of his work that works perfectly for this story. His style matches the book. He had to work very fast, Canongate got the manuscript in April and he had to do 60 illustrations in little more than a month. It's amazing that he managed it, especially as some of them are so detailed.


Q: What will you write next for children?

A: My next children's book will be called A Girl Called Christmas, which follows on from book one. The idea was to write three different books, set in different periods, heading closer to the modern day and showing how Christmas evolves.

The next book is set in Dickensian London and it's about a girl with a difficult childhood. It is more of a thriller, really, as Father Christmas becomes a detective in Victorian London, looking for this child. It's a reversal of book one where we move from the human world to the world of magic. In the next story, Father Christmas goes from his magical world into dark, Victorian London, and I'm in the process of planning the third book which will be magical and big, uniting the first two books.

Writing A Boy Called Christmas was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it immensely, partly because I'd just written Reasons to Stay Alive which had meant writing about the worst years of my life. This was the perfect antidote to that. This year I also spent a lot of time talking about mental health which becomes a bit like an ongoing therapy session in public so it was fun to escape into this world.


Q: Where do you write?

A: I don't really have one place to write in at the moment as we've just moved to Brighton, which is lovely, but the house is being decorated so we are all sleeping in one room. I used to write in the attic but now I'll write anywhere, which often means writing in the passenger seat of the mini as we've been travelling around the country a lot. I used to be very precious about writing but if you have the will, you can do it anywhere and at any time!


Q: What are you looking forward to most this Christmas?

A: We started the year in York and now we're in Brighton, so we will enjoy our first Christmas here and doing things like going to the cinema, watching the new Star Wars film, reading books and eating lots of food. It becomes all about food as an adult and I'm planning to develop a big Father Christmas tummy!

 

 

TO BE A CAT

PUBLISHED BY BODLEY HEAD

FEBRUARY 2012


With bullies, a missing dad and a head-teacher from hell tormenting him, 12 year-old Barney starts to wonder if life as a cat could be much easier... What a mistake that proves to be, when Barney finds himself turned into a cat!

To Be A Cat is a funny, moving and engaging story about identity and being happy with who you are (and why you wouldn't want to be a cat...)


Q: Have you always been a writer?

A: I have done a lot of different jobs - telesales, working in Oddbins, then freelance journalism for newspapers like The Guardian and The Independent. I also wrote some books about the internet but decided that, if I wanted to keep my name in print, it would have to be with something I was proud of. That's when I sat down to write my first adult novel. It was about a talking dog.


Q: And now this book is about a talking cat - was there a link?

A: Possibly this story had its roots in that book. I found that I always like to look at human life from a different perspective - that was from a dog's perspective and To Be A Cat balances that out. I grew up with cats and dogs - so am I a cat person or a dog kind of person?


Q: What's the difference?

A: Cats have so much mystery, there's so much about them that we don't know, they are inspiring and fit being magical a bit more than dogs. We know what dogs get up to - cats just disappear and do their own thing.


Q: Is the main character Barney anything like you were as a child?

A: As a boy I did get bullied a bit and I didn't really fit in at school, so yes we are a little alike in that.

Also my mum was a head teacher so when I came home from school I would have the pets for company. I used to wonder what they got up to during the day. I thought it was probably better than having double maths!

In many of my books I have a spirited main character who then develops confidence, which is what Barney goes through. He has to gain that strength and awareness to not be a cat any more. He has to learn to be proud of who he is.


Q: Which was your favourite character to write?

A: Miss Whipmire, the baddie, was definitely the most fun to write and I think children will enjoy her. Writers sometimes forget that children like those kinds of characters - she is really cruel and gets some nasty dialogue.


Q: Did you have the story plotted out before you began to write it?

A: No, I didn't have a clear idea of where the book was going. I just had the first chapter where a boy wakes up and discovers he's a different creature. The fun was trying to work out how I could build a story around that. At that stage I was almost as confused as the central character about why he was a cat!


Q: Have you ever wondered if you could actually turn into a cat...?

A: Well I've written books about vampires for adults and people have asked me if I genuinely think there are vampires out there.... As for being able to turn into cats - well, who knows? We don't have all the answers to everything, do we?!


Q: Are you planning another story about Barney or cats?

A: I don't rule out writing a series of books but this is a stand-alone story. I have other ideas that would work as series but I think it would be sad if the one-off book couldn't be done in the future because publishers do prefer series. But if your first book isn't a hit, you'd get a bit depressed writing books three and four, wouldn't you? Plus I get bored easily and so if I did write a series, it would have to be something that kept me really interested.

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