Miracle if they will pay you to do it. That is my situation. With doing these bookshops, this has been the most final year of my life. Really . Because i love to tell stories. I was kind of blocked with the stories i loved to tell, i had the womens murder club, we dont need any more hardback. There was no place for me to let my imagination go, and now there is. I will have more content than marvel by the end of this year. It is Little Wonder that youre known as the busiest man in publishing, not just because known as the busiest man in publishing, notjust because of the number of books you are writing but because of the time and money you spend on championing literacy. Why is that so important . The most important thing for me is getting kids reading. If our children do not become competent readers, especially kids at risk, how will they get jobs . Go through school . If they get through, they are ten or ii and im not confident, it is going to be. They are going to be a drag on the society, on the city, on all of us. It is going to make a much harder life for them. Big about, as individuals, i cant do much to solve Global Warming or healthcare crises or whatever. As an individual, we can all get the kids in our homes reading, mostly. We can hope to local school help. We can help the local libraries. Ijust hope that people will stand up and 90, hope that people will stand up and go, our libraries are really important, so we need the money for oui important, so we need the money for our libraries. How much does your interest in this stem from the fact that you had a son who was a relu cta nt that you had a son who was a reluctant reader . It started. Our son was a bright guy. When he was eight years old, that summer, we said, you can read every day. He said, you can read every day. He said, doi said, you can read every day. He said, do i have to . And we said yes, u nless said, do i have to . And we said yes, unless you want to live in the garaged. And we said, what we are going to do is, if this is going to be painless, we are going to find books you really like. We got a dozen books, percy jackson, books you really like. We got a dozen books, perchackson, a wrinkle in time. He is Reading Skills went up dramatically and ultimately, they have sat scores in america, a perfect score in reading is 800, and he got that and he is going to an Ivy League College next year. If you take charge with your children, there is nothing more important than a mother, father, grandparents do than making sure your children read that. Grandparents do than making sure your children read that. You are hugely successful, a writer of commercial mainstream fiction. Do you hanker after writing the Great American novel . I have already, theyre just commercial. No, american novel . I have already, theyrejust commercial. No, you know, i love what i do, i think it serves a purpose. Nasa on my gravestone, it will say that. Bookshops are a revolution. This is going to change the way people read. For her latest novel, Joanne Harris is back in school. She has that two previous books in the same school. Although she thinks of it as comic, the comedy is darker than ever. One of our most prolific and most read authors. The classroom and corridors are exerting of sexualjealousy, some hate, jealousy and violence. In some hate, jealousy and violence. In some of them are about the troubling relationships between teachers and pupils and the havoc that they can sometimes wreak. It strikes me that schools attract you . I am very fond of them, i taught in them for 15 yea rs of them, i taught in them for 15 years and they are wonderful observations of community. The observations of community. The observation he is, as i said at the beginning, pretty dark . Its funny, touching, but it goes to some very dark places. Both in terms of the staff and their charges. It does. I found that schools are a perpetual stage for tragedy and farce. So many things can happen in such an unpredictable environment. That is not just because of unpredictable environment. That is notjust because of the setting but the age of those involved. You are talking about adolescents going through all kinds of crises, some imagined and some real. Relationships with teachers, which are inevitably delicate things . Yes, adolescence, you can experience things for the first time and they can be so powerful that they will create a complete our people in your life. I found it create a complete our people in your life. Ifound it very create a complete our people in your life. I found it very interesting but it is a bit daunting. I realise asa but it is a bit daunting. I realise as a teacher, you can really influenced zombies life. People remember you and something that you said, and if it was unfair they will remember it in a way that i dont think adults do. I think its safe to say that you have become much more familiar to us in the last two oi more familiar to us in the last two or three years. Terrible Emotional Trauma between staff and pupils, did you know that was what you were getting into when you started . Not entirely, no. Istarted getting into when you started . Not entirely, no. I started off with a germ of an idea, and then it started to unfold. I found their to be an uncomfortable to unfold. I found their to be an u nco Mforta Ble Crossover to unfold. I found their to be an uncomfortable crossover in what i was writing about and what was happening in the world. It became much darker and more topical than i thought it would. You to be atmospheres that can develop, sometimes leading to almost a witch hunt atmosphere. Also stories of False Accusations and great damage done as a consequence. That clearly fascinates you, lurking under the surface . Yes, i think so, in the past, and how it affects the present and how memory is not inherently a reliable tool, particularly when dealing with experiences of trauma. How memory can be affected by all kinds of things that are happening in the present day and how memory can sometimes be both unreliable and frightening. The principal character has been a teacher for a very long time, this has happened to him again and again. There is the interesting sense of having seen generations of pupils coming through. You clearly adore him . A very fond of him. Were not entirely the same person, but i might have gone into him if i stayed at the Grammar School which i taught at. He is flawed in a lot of ways, but ultimately, he has a good heart. He is warm and affectionate, loves hisjob. He is aware of he is warm and affectionate, loves his job. He is aware of the consequences of the job he does and that he is a affecting young lives. He has a strong sense of duty. I quite like the fact that he is a bit subversive, he has at various editors is that he is completely unaware of. He has favourites and he is unaware of that. He doesnt understand technology and likes a cheeky cigarette. You have got an older man talking, but youve got youngsters as well. They are inhabiting completely different areas, although they are in the same place in school . Thats right. I think i have the benefit of being in that environment for long enough to pick upa that environment for long enough to pick up a lot of voices and remember the way that teenage boys talked, the way that teenage boys talked, the way that older members of staff talk. So i borrowed from colleagues and pupils who watched the whole process with joely from social media. You are a great twitter user. Ido like media. You are a great twitter user. I do like it. Do you find pupils coming along and saying, it wasnt like that with you . A lot of boys come back and say, i remember this. Very often they turn up to readings. They all think i am writing about them, which is not quite true. But there are certainly little vignettes. Although it is a dark story, you are clearly having fun. You are an immensely successful author, very widely read. Are you irritated when people say, you are the chocolat woman. Does that irk you . Inevitably a little. I am very grateful for the response to chocolat and i love it, i am still writing about those characters. What Ifind Irksome if anything is the assumption that i will always do the same thing. Most of my readers to make this assumption because they have learnt that i could go in any direction and have done. And i am lucky in that sense the. You take the authorial responsibility very seriously. He recently talked about not going to one famous Literary Festival because they were expecting all kinds of things, exclusive contracts and a puny c. And he said authors deserve to be treated better . It is notjust about me, all wanting money or special treatment. What i would like is for people to see writing as a job, a profession, and treat authors professionally. This is especially important for Young Authors who have a difficulty in getting to festivals because of what it cost. Writers dont make much money, contrary to public opinion. Yes, the average salary is £11,000 a year. Not many of us actually get to make a living out of it. You are an author who i think conforms to one of the stereotypes, you work in a shed in the bottom of a garden, you disappear and enter a different world . A garden, you disappear and enter a different world . I think it is psychologically important for an author to have a workspace. Someone like me, who was on a timetable for a long time, it is difficult to manage your time and get into the psychological headspace of writing. I think it is important to create a place where you work and nothing else happens, whether it is a shed, a desk, when i was starting out i didnt have a desk. So i put two objects in front of my laptop when i Wa Nted Objects in front of my laptop when i wanted to write and that created my workspace. I am wanted to write and that created my workspace. Iam nearly wanted to write and that created my workspace. I am nearly always working on two projects at once. One for sunny days and one for dark days. This was a dark day book, although it has some sunshine in there as well. Thank you very much. Thank you. One thing s for sure, were not going to get much snow this christmas. It is barely snowing across the scottish mountains, it is just so incredibly mild. Lets have a look at the big day. The early hours of christmas day, sent a briefing the Santa Braving the winds. A bit cooler in the far north, about five celsius. Strong south west winds continuing, storm connor passing the uk, sending showers into scotland. Look at these temperatures, that is the story of christmas. On boxing day, storm connor is still to the west of us, sending gales into the final full scotland. An amber warning in place from the met office, stormy weather. Hello and welcome to bbc news. Our top stories, the israeli Prime Minister orders review of his countrys relationship with the United Nations after vote condemning settle m e nt United Nations after vote condemning settlement building. Donald trump says he will dissolve his controversial Charitable Foundation to avoid any conflicts of interest. Kinesio says it has uncovered a terrorist cell linked to the burly and Christmas Market attack. Three men have been arrested. Kinesio says it has were and rick parfitt dies at the age of 68
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