Ask the Author: Wallace E. Briggs
Answered Questions (8)
Wallace E. Briggs
How was the Jimmy Crikey story was born:
I always read a bedtime story to my two boys, but had never written a children's story.
About forty years ago my wife and I were holidaying in Great Yarmouth with our 4/5 year old son. He had made friends with a small group of children who took shelter in our beach tent during a heavy afternoon shower. The decibels rose to unbearable levels for my wife, trying to read a book. She pleaded that I try to keep them quiet by telling them a story. So, for the first time, I had to make up a story on the spot. One of the children in the group, the smallest, happened to have ginger hair. I had noticed that he was being picked on by the older members of the 'gang', "go there", "bring this", "do that", "don't do that", etc. He became my story’s hero, Jimmy Crikey, the boy who looked different. I needed a spot of magic to entrance the youngsters, and so Witch Matilda was born. The story needed monsters, and in an underground world, there was no shortage of creative opportunities. Jimmy needed a friend and I chose that his companion should be female, to widen the interest factor. And so was born Gemma, the young lady who lived at the bottom of the well. And to add to the mystery she did not know how she came to be there.
Out of such beginning grew The Amazing Adventures of Jimmy Crikey and my imagination was allowed to run riot to create a story around them and the errant Weatherman who lost control of his Cloud HQ because he kept falling asleep.
The stories did not appear in print for at least a further twenty years and I have just released the seventh (stand alone, complete) fantasy adventure of The Adventures of Jimmy Crikey: Tangled! https://www.amazon.com/dp/BOFM4I85YN
I always read a bedtime story to my two boys, but had never written a children's story.
About forty years ago my wife and I were holidaying in Great Yarmouth with our 4/5 year old son. He had made friends with a small group of children who took shelter in our beach tent during a heavy afternoon shower. The decibels rose to unbearable levels for my wife, trying to read a book. She pleaded that I try to keep them quiet by telling them a story. So, for the first time, I had to make up a story on the spot. One of the children in the group, the smallest, happened to have ginger hair. I had noticed that he was being picked on by the older members of the 'gang', "go there", "bring this", "do that", "don't do that", etc. He became my story’s hero, Jimmy Crikey, the boy who looked different. I needed a spot of magic to entrance the youngsters, and so Witch Matilda was born. The story needed monsters, and in an underground world, there was no shortage of creative opportunities. Jimmy needed a friend and I chose that his companion should be female, to widen the interest factor. And so was born Gemma, the young lady who lived at the bottom of the well. And to add to the mystery she did not know how she came to be there.
Out of such beginning grew The Amazing Adventures of Jimmy Crikey and my imagination was allowed to run riot to create a story around them and the errant Weatherman who lost control of his Cloud HQ because he kept falling asleep.
The stories did not appear in print for at least a further twenty years and I have just released the seventh (stand alone, complete) fantasy adventure of The Adventures of Jimmy Crikey: Tangled! https://www.amazon.com/dp/BOFM4I85YN
Wallace E. Briggs
Inspiration just comes - from the ether, often unbidden.
Wallace E. Briggs
Necessity is the mother of invention. Consider the need to entertain four active children taking shelter in a beach tent during a shower. How do keep the quiet? "Tell them a story", my wife said. So, I did and new adventure began for the children and for me.
Wallace E. Briggs
Don't expect a financial return. If you don't enjoy the process don't begin. If you can't yet, learn how to market your works. Never give up, there will a lot of rejections and not everyone will like your work.
Wallace E. Briggs
Creating something new to entertain a child's imagination.
Wallace E. Briggs
Leave the project alone for a day. a week or a month if needed for the inspiration to 'happen' again.
I have plenty of other projects to turn my hand to.
If writing abandons me for a while I turn to my Hammond organ or even find a subject for my pottery painting - usually fairies or gnomes or wildlife. Never short of subject matter, just the time to fit it all in.
I have plenty of other projects to turn my hand to.
If writing abandons me for a while I turn to my Hammond organ or even find a subject for my pottery painting - usually fairies or gnomes or wildlife. Never short of subject matter, just the time to fit it all in.
Wallace E. Briggs
Baldacci's Walk the Wire
Wallace E. Briggs
Two main projects:
1.the next Jimmy Crikey story
2. working with OutFox for kids to produce an audio version of The Amazing Adventures of Jimmy Crikey.
In the background is a memoir and a YA fantasy
1.the next Jimmy Crikey story
2. working with OutFox for kids to produce an audio version of The Amazing Adventures of Jimmy Crikey.
In the background is a memoir and a YA fantasy
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