Anthony McGowan
About Author
Anthony Mcgowan was born in Manchester and was the second of what were to be five children. He now lives in London with his wife, author and fashion designer Rebecca Campbell, and their two young children.
Both Anthony's parents were nurses and hoped that he would become a doctor. However, he dropped his science 'A' Levels to study the Arts, and went on to do Philosophy and Politics at Manchester University.
It was during his college years that Anthony decided he wanted to be a writer, and he started by writing articles for the student newspaper. In 1989 he moved to London and worked as a civil servant and freelance journalist.
Anthony almost ended up becoming a rock star instead when he joined his friend Tim's band, Dandelion Wine, in 1996.
Their first album, Model Village, was critically well received and they were then offered a tour of Japan. Unfortunately Tim was afraid of flying, thus ending Anthony's music career.
In 1999, Anthony and Rebecca had their first child, Gabriel. Anthony then left his job at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to become a full time parent.
He also found time to finish his first novel, which although was not immediately published, did gain him an agent, Stephanie Cabot of William Morris, who is also his wife's agent.
After advice from his agent, Anthony reworked his first novel which was entitled Abandon Hope, a black comedy modelled on Dante's Inferno aimed at teenagers and young adults.
In January 2003, Anthony's second child, Rose, was born, and later that year Stephanie went out with the revised version of Abandon Hope, now called Hellbent. It was accepted by Random House and was published by Doubleday in February 2005.
Anthony's second book, Henry Tumour, is a funny and contemporary tale of Hector Brunty's attempts to survive at school with the help of Henry, his talking brain tumour. Henry Tumour won both the 2006 Booktrust Teenage Prize and the 2007 Catalyst Award.
Anthony's next book, The Knife That Killed Me, was published in April 2008. It is a thought-provoking and original novel highlighting the terrible consequences of peer pressure and violence, which casts a spotlight on the worrying rise in knife crime among teenagers. The Knife That Killed Me was longlisted for the 2008 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
Anthony has also launched a new series for younger boys called The Bare Bum Gang. The first book in the series, The Bare Bum Gang: The Football Face-Off, was published in May 2008. The story follows Ludo, Noah, Jamie and Phillip - the Bare Bum Gang - as they defend their gang headquarters with Smarties tube fart bombs and other ingenious traps. The Bare Bum Gang: Battles the Dogsnatchers was published in August 2008.
Author link
Interview
THE DONUT DIARIES
July 2011
Published by Corgi Children's
Curry-flavoured donuts, a new school and more donuts feature in The Donut Diaries, a very funny story about starting at a new school by Anthony McGowan.
Q: You must really like donuts to write a whole book about them?
A: Actually I'm not a donut fan, they put my teeth on edge. My ideal mid-morning snack is a blueberry muffin.
Q: Apart from donuts, the diary is about a boy called Dermot who is starting at secondary school. Were you terrified when you made the transition from primary to secondary school?
A: Yes I was and my school was a bit demented. I was brought up in a small village outside Leeds but then had to go to a huge school in Leeds and all the schools in my teenage books are based on that school.
It was full of tough and disturbed kids and teachers kept control through sheer brutality!
I had a brilliant time though because of the friends I made. There was conflict, joy and horror every single day of my school life - perfect material for a novel!
Q: You also load on the misery for your lead character, Dermot, by making him overweight (too many donuts).
A: Yes, I did. I was listening to my son's anxieties about going from primary school to secondary at an all-boys comprehensive and I thought it'd make a good story - but I decided I'd make it even tougher for my character so I made him overweight.
In his diary, you see everything from his perspective so when awful things happen to him, you're not laughing at him although you do sometimes laugh with him.
Q: How hard is it to write a diary by a teenage boy?
A: It's the first book I've written in diary format and it was really hard. I had the basic story but fitting it into a diary structure meant that I had to have something happen every single day.
Luckily Dermot is quite good at English and likes writing, so that makes it easier.
We all know that teen boys are not great at communicating:
'So how was your day?' 'Grunt'
'What did you do?' 'Stuff'.
Q: You give Dermot quite an odd collection of friends - who was your favourite?
A: Once you get over the horrible school dinners and find your friends, school is fine. Corky, who has Tourette's syndrome and a terrible stammer, is one of Dermot's group of friends. He was my favourite to write about. He keeps wanting to swear but can't because of his stammer.
Q: There's also a lot of poo in this story....?
A: Yes, that's my sense of humour I'm afraid. I do enjoy body comedy. The poo moments are very funny!
Q: What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?
A: I've always been very prone to embarrassment and the problem is that when you're easily embarrassed, you're more prone to doing embarrassing things.
In my next Donut Diaries story, Dermot writes 'I love you' on a banana, only because writing with a biro on a banana can be quite fun. He forgets about it and puts it on his desk and the girl at the next desk thinks it's a message for her.
Well, that's based on something that happened to me. I'd also written 'I love you' on a banana, just for something to do. When I put it on my desk at the British Library, I got some very odd looks from the guy at the desk next to mine until I realised what I'd done!
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your second Donut Diaries book?
A: Sure, the FHK (Floppy Haired Kid) from book one is out for revenge. When Dermot goes back to school he realises that, whenever he is alone in a corridor or in a classroom, someone manages to plant poo where he's just been so he gets the blame. The book is about Dermot trying to solve the mystery of who is planting the poo. So there's lots more poo to come!
Q: How does your writing day go?
A: I usually shamble around in my pyjamas after I've got the children ready for school and I work from 9 till 3.30 when they come home. I always try to write 1,000 words a day. Sometimes I go to the British Library for a change of scene.
Q: What's the best job you've ever done?
A: I became a nightclub bouncer when I left university, which was really easy and well paid. But I was also a civil servant for six years in the VAT department, I hated that!
