Ask the Author: John Bottern
Answered Questions (6)
John Bottern
The idea for "Save Akili" (Akili being the name of an elephant matriarch of a large herd) arose from an article I read a while ago. It was about how ivory poachers still decimate these herds of magnificent animals, despite game rangers now shooting and killing poachers found within the game reserves. - Do you know that a number of elephants are nowadays being born without tusks? Incredibly, it seems to be nature's way of responding to the slaughter of their species.
John Bottern
Ouch! You know - I don't know! Urged on by my wife, I first wrote for our children and grandchildren, my memoirs from the first 30 years of my life, which were spent mainly in Kenya (where I was born) and Tanzania. They will probably be published in December.
Then for some unknown reason, since I had anyway been writing, I sat down and wrote "Save Akili". Again for the grandchildren. Then "Ndugu", due out in August, and "Nyala", due out in October. All take place in Tanzania, from where I have so many wonderful memories.
Then for some unknown reason, since I had anyway been writing, I sat down and wrote "Save Akili". Again for the grandchildren. Then "Ndugu", due out in August, and "Nyala", due out in October. All take place in Tanzania, from where I have so many wonderful memories.
John Bottern
I am currently doing the final edit of my next book, "Ndugu", which is due out in August. It's about an orphan chimpanzee found at death's door by a young girl. She nurtures it and discovers that she can "talk" to it, using sign language.
There is scientific evidence that this is quite possible and has been done many times. The girl, Freya, calls the chimpanzee "Ndugu", Swahili for a very close relative, like a brother or sister.
Conversation is severely constrained as a chimpanzee has, in human terms, the intelligence of a four to six-year-old person. Then one day Freya discovers that Ndugu has an astonishing talent .... well, whaddya know, you'll have to get the book to find out what it is!
There is scientific evidence that this is quite possible and has been done many times. The girl, Freya, calls the chimpanzee "Ndugu", Swahili for a very close relative, like a brother or sister.
Conversation is severely constrained as a chimpanzee has, in human terms, the intelligence of a four to six-year-old person. Then one day Freya discovers that Ndugu has an astonishing talent .... well, whaddya know, you'll have to get the book to find out what it is!
John Bottern
Having only just published my first book, it would be presumptuous of me to give advice to others. And yet - let me take you through the path I threaded.
I started telling stories to my grandchildren - telling, not reading. And to make it more fun, I let them take many of the crucial decisions on names of characters and on the action. For instance, I would say to them: "As Greta and Tom came to the big river they saw ..... what?" And the children would say: A big crocodile! Or: A HUGE giant! - you never knew, what they would say. But I would then continue the story, working with whatever they had chosen.
It sounds difficult - but it really isn't if you relax. The children will accept almost anything, so you don't hesitate: "A BIG gorilla? OK. They saw a big gorilla .... sitting on a rock, crying ...." and the story gets a life of its own.
And of course, the more you practice, the better you get at it. So when you start writing, it's really quite easy to keep the momentum flowing.
Try it.
I started telling stories to my grandchildren - telling, not reading. And to make it more fun, I let them take many of the crucial decisions on names of characters and on the action. For instance, I would say to them: "As Greta and Tom came to the big river they saw ..... what?" And the children would say: A big crocodile! Or: A HUGE giant! - you never knew, what they would say. But I would then continue the story, working with whatever they had chosen.
It sounds difficult - but it really isn't if you relax. The children will accept almost anything, so you don't hesitate: "A BIG gorilla? OK. They saw a big gorilla .... sitting on a rock, crying ...." and the story gets a life of its own.
And of course, the more you practice, the better you get at it. So when you start writing, it's really quite easy to keep the momentum flowing.
Try it.
John Bottern
The freedom! The freedom to do what you enjoy doing. As a follow-on, I find that the more you exercise your imagination, the more responsive your mind becomes - and that's great fun!
John Bottern
I love writing, but if you do it full-time, as I do, then it is surely also a job. And as a job that needs to be done, I never think about the how's and why's, I just do. So I have so far never had any serious instance of Writer's Block - thank goodness!
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