Katie W. Stewart-Interview with the author and illustrator
Today we welcome Katie W. Stewart-the author of the middle grade fantasy novel The Dragon Box.
TRC: Hi Katie and thank you for answering some of our questions at The Reading Café. It is always great to meet the author behind the books. We would like to start with some bio information.
NAME: Katie W Stewart
MARITAL STATUS: Married
CHILDREN: 3
RESIDENCE: Western Australia
FORMAL EDUCATION: B.A.(Hons); Grad.Dip.Ed
TRC: Would you please tell us about yourself?
Katie: I’m an English-born Australian, wife of a farmer, mother of three lovely children and I work in the library at a small private school. I love art, music and history as well as writing and reading, of course. I’ve worked as an archaeologist, ethnohistorian and teacher, but I enjoy what I’m doing now most of all. To relax, I’m teaching myself to play the celtic harp.
TRC: As a child, were you always interested in writing/illustrating?
Katie: I came from a large family and we were always encouraged to entertain ourselves. I took up art because it was one thing my clever older sisters didn’t spend a lot of time doing (though they were good at it, too.) It gave me a label for people to use when they didn’t know my name – ‘the artistic one’. I liked it better than ‘the fat one’. It was a great pastime to have. Writing was something I did at school to start with, but as I got older I found I really enjoyed it. I wrote my first horrendous novel when I was 16. What I really wanted to do, though, was to write and illustrate books. I’d still love to publish my own picture book.
TRC: Will you please tell us about some of the covers that you have illustrated? Which one is your personal favorite?
Katie: I’ve done illustrations, including covers for a number of children’s books, including the ‘Scoot, Scoot, Bandicoot’ series by Karen Treanor. The covers were all done as Karen wanted them. I loved doing those as I really love drawing animals. More recently I’ve been doing covers for ebooks. I don’t think I have a favourite. I just love doing then and I always really like the one I’ve just finished (and as far as I’m concerned, if I don’t love it – it’s not finished).
TRC: As an illustrator, what type of formal education/training did you enlist? Did your talent come naturally as an illustrator?
Katie: I don’t have any formal training beyond Year 12 Art, so yes, I suppose it’s something that comes naturally. I learned to illustrate by copying other people’s work, experimenting to find out how they created effects. I wouldn’t have been a good art student. I hate people telling me what to do. I’d much rather work things out for myself.
TRC: Were you the illustrator for each of your novel covers?
Katie: Yes, I designed all my own covers for my novels and short story. I tend to use my own drawings and photographs and Photoshop them until I get to something I like. I think it’s sad to see the same royalty free photos used again and again by different authors. I’m a great fan of Photoshop (though I’m by no means an expert). It fascinates me what effects you can get. Take the tree design on the cover of ‘Treespeaker’, for example. I was really happy the way it came out from what was originally a very simple black and white pen design.
TRC: Your first published novel (as an author) was Treespeaker. Would you please tell us something about the premise of Treespeaker?
Katie: Treespeaker tells the story of Jakan, a seer and healer in a small forest village. The forest protects itself from the outside world, but one day a stranger breaks in. The villagers believe that the forest has let him in and are soon under his mind-bending power, but Jakan knows otherwise. He is forced to go on a journey outside the forest, where the environment has suffered from overuse of resources. So it’s a book about environmentalism, but also about faith and what it can do.
TRC: Did you have to do any research to uncover aboriginal lore and stories to aid in writing Treespeaker?
Katie: Treespeaker is actually set in temperate forest, in a sort of Late Mesolithic society, but entirely in a different world than ours. Having studied archaeology and written a major essay on Late Mesolithic Britain (and I have to admit to enjoying European archaeology a lot more than Australian), I had a fair bit of prior knowledge. But there were still some things I had to research, like how to use a sling and herbal remedies.
TRC: The Dragon Box was your second release–a middle-grade storyline that would fascinate children of all ages. Would you tell us about the premise?
Katie: James is new to town and a victim of bullies on the football field. He’s befriended by his next door neighbour, a rather eccentric inventor, who gives him an electronic game he has built. When James turns it on, he’s taken physically into the game and finds himself in a fantasy world where a witch is threatening to take over the kingdom. He’s sent on a quest to get a crystal that will help the Queen’s champion, a wingless dragon, to rid the kingdom of the witch. In the process, he becomes a lot more self-confident and self-reliant and learns to deal with the bullies, who appear in the game as two rather pesky goblins.
TRC: Have you considered writing a series of adventures with Mack and James, around The Dragon Box?
Katie: Along with umpteen other books, yes, I have! I’m interested in doing something with the story Mack mentions in the book about the music box he gave to James’s mother when she was young. There’s a very sad story behind it that I think would help children who are grieving. I did originally tell the story briefly in The Dragon Box, but it was cut when I went to tighten the writing.
TRC: Mark of the Dragon Queen involves Kira and the use of magic (as does The Dragon Box). Would you please tell us about Mark of the Dragon Queen?
Katie: All my books contain magic in one form or another. Kira’s father has been banned from using magic, after he was found guilty of using it to kill a man. When he uses it to save a child’s life, he is sentenced to spend the rest of his days in a cruel prison. Kira overhears one of his students talking about going to the prison and presumes he is going to save her father, so she follows him. But she has a lot to learn about the student, her father and herself.
TRC: Do you have plans for a series involving Kira and the dragons?
Katie: I’m very fond of the character of Kira’s father, so I feel obliged to write a sequel, having left the poor man in a bit of a sad way at the end of Mark of the Dragon Queen. So yes, I do I plan to write a sequel. I have most of it planned in my head.
TRC: Are all of your novels only available in ebook format?
Katie: At the moment, yes. I’ve been trying to do this with as little cost to myself as possible. With ebooks I can do that pretty well. I Would like to go into print, though. I’m not sure how somewhere like Createspace works for someone in Australia, so if I go down that road, it will probably be with a local printer.
TRC: Have you ever written or considered writing any adult storylines? If not, why?
Katie: Treespeaker is actually written for adults, but it reads like a Young Adult novel because that’s how I write. I’m not really interested in including ‘adult’ themes. I like to keep things simple!
TRC: Many authors bounce ideas and information between friends and family. Who do you plot and strategize ideas (with)?
Katie: I belong to a site called Critique Circle where I can get chapters critiqued by other writers and brainstorm ideas. I’ve been there for about six years and I’ve learned a lot about the art of getting a novel together from there. I also belong to a local writers’ group who help and encourage me a lot.
TRC: What are you working on today?
Katie: At the moment I’m working on the sequel to Treespeaker, which is called ‘Song of the Jikhoshi’. It’s coming along rather slowly because I keep getting sidetracked, but I’m hoping to have it finished in the not too distant future.
TRC: Would you like to add anything else?
Katie: Thank you for inviting me to talk to you. If anyone would like any more information, they can have a look at any of the following links –
LIGHTNING ROUND
FAVORITE FOOD Bulgogi (Korean barbecued beef)
FAVORITE DESSERT Pavlova
FAVORITE MOVIE To Kill A Mockingbird – an oldie but a goodie.
FAVORITE TV SHOW I don’t watch TV often, but two series I like are ‘Doc Martin’ and ‘Kingdom’
LAST MOVIE YOU SAW ‘Tintin’ with my children
DARK OR MILK CHOCOLATE Milk
RED OR PINK ROSES Red
DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS My family has four dogs (1 pet, 3 working), 2 cats, a budgie and a duck.
TRC: Thank you Katie for taking the time to answer our questions. We wish you the best of luck with all of your work. Let us know about any upcoming releases.
