An Interview with Rufus Penzance
Howard and I have been working together in some form since we were kids, during which time we’ve written plays, performed stand-up comedy, and produced several podcasts. Our longest-running show, The Worst Writer in the World, is about stories. We try to learn to be better writers – by laughing at things we wrote when we were young, analysing stories that we love, and setting each other ridiculous writing challenges to force us out of our comfort zones.
What inspired you to start writing this book?
We’ve spent our lives searching for a doorway to a magical world and we still haven’t found one (except for that one time at school, but we’re not allowed to talk about that). In the end, we decided we’d better invent one.
Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
We decided quite early in the plotting stage that there should be a magical guidebook, and that it should know more about the characters than it’s possible for a book to know. We were in a pub near Tower Bridge in London when we decided it should be called The Complete History (and Fistory) of Underspace, and then naming our story after this mysterious book seemed only logical.
What books are you reading (for research or comfort) as you continue the writing process?
I’ve been reading the Middle Falls time travel series by Shawn Inmon, which is a delightful and wonderfully cosy collection of books which I’ve been enjoying immensely, despite them being quite different to what I normally read.
What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?
I currently work as a teacher – of English as a foreign language. I teach people from all over the world, of many ages and backgrounds, and I learn at least as much from them as they do from me. I’ve taught in various countries, especially in Latin America, and I once taught the chief of police of Costa Rica while I was working there illegally.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
Howard, my co-writer, made me want to write. Because when we were kids, he was outrageously good at it, and I had a strong desire to match his talent. I’ve been practising pretty constantly for thirty years, and I think I’m now almost as good as he was when he was ten.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Treehouse. (I haven’t got a treehouse, but if I did – it would definitely be my favourite place to write)
What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?
The Tree Pigs. I hope they remember the Tree Pigs and their great wisdom. Such as that well-known Tree Pig proverb: “If it looks like a pig, and sounds like a pig, and it’s shaped like a pig, and it is a pig – then you’ll probably still have to explain what it is to a human.”
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