Ask the Author: Olly Barrett
Answered Questions (6)
Olly Barrett
Finding inspiration for for children's stories is relatively easy as their imagination in endless. What's unbelievable to an adult is believable to a child. It allows you to dig deep and come up with something that will grab their attention.
My book started with an 800 year old oak which had a split down its trunk. If you look inside, its hollow and you can see out of the top to the branches above. There's a picture on my website www.ollybarrett.com. From that, a book was written.
Watching birds flying around - the second book in the series shows what jobs they all do; you discover why seagulls really fly behind a tractor ploughing a field for one. Its all these simple, little things that collectively make a bigger and more interesting story.
My book started with an 800 year old oak which had a split down its trunk. If you look inside, its hollow and you can see out of the top to the branches above. There's a picture on my website www.ollybarrett.com. From that, a book was written.
Watching birds flying around - the second book in the series shows what jobs they all do; you discover why seagulls really fly behind a tractor ploughing a field for one. Its all these simple, little things that collectively make a bigger and more interesting story.
Olly Barrett
I've suffered with it a few times, but since I don't know which direction my stories will go, if I think of a small section I definitely want in the book, no matter where it slots into the story, I write that part. This leads to another idea which I write down too. Gradually, you're left with a writing jigsaw which can be pieced together and you fill in the blanks.
I struggled on book 3 - The Vengeance of The Elder - because, for whatever reason, the two main characters couldn't be written in.
Not all the writing makes it in, but the ideas can be kept aside to insert in future stories.
I struggled on book 3 - The Vengeance of The Elder - because, for whatever reason, the two main characters couldn't be written in.
Not all the writing makes it in, but the ideas can be kept aside to insert in future stories.
Olly Barrett
The escapism. You lose yourself for hours in a world you've created.
I don't ever have a middle & an end when I start, so I'm as excited writing a story as you are reading it.
I don't ever have a middle & an end when I start, so I'm as excited writing a story as you are reading it.
Olly Barrett
If there's a story in you, write it. Even if it's terrible, once you've finished it, lock it away for a few months. When you read it again, you'll see the diamond in the rough.
When you are rejected by literary agents, just keep writing in the mean time. Just because they don't want you, doesn't mean your future readers don't.
I was rejected 173 times - "nobody wants animal POV stories these days", "It would be better as a film", "We can't place you in the market between MG & YA".
When you are rejected by literary agents, just keep writing in the mean time. Just because they don't want you, doesn't mean your future readers don't.
I was rejected 173 times - "nobody wants animal POV stories these days", "It would be better as a film", "We can't place you in the market between MG & YA".
Olly Barrett
Currently, I'm working on the 4th book in the series - The Accused. The 2nd book - The Escape from Waltur Tower - is about to be sent off for copy editing. The 3rd book - The Vengeance of The Elder - remains in a locked draw ready for its self edit before being sent off for its copy edit.
Like all authors, I juggle a lot of things at once, but publishing to the world is the most daunting thing I've ever done. I'm just an old introverted nobody who wrote a few good books and is learning to face criticism.
Like all authors, I juggle a lot of things at once, but publishing to the world is the most daunting thing I've ever done. I'm just an old introverted nobody who wrote a few good books and is learning to face criticism.
Olly Barrett
I was lucky enough to grow up in a village surrounded by hills, fields & woods. After watching Watership Down as a child, the story never left me. When my daughters wanted books to read, I thought they should have personalised adventures to excite their imagination as well as all the books they already had.
We live in a town, so it gave them a sense of escapism with these stories. It took many years to get it right, but I think I cracked it. They love the books and convinced me to publish them all, so this is where I am at right now - book 1, The Battle for Oak Ridge, has just gone live on Amazon.
We live in a town, so it gave them a sense of escapism with these stories. It took many years to get it right, but I think I cracked it. They love the books and convinced me to publish them all, so this is where I am at right now - book 1, The Battle for Oak Ridge, has just gone live on Amazon.
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