"The Courier-Mail" newspaper out of Queensland continues its good work interviewing Australian authors with Christopher Bantick this week talking to Paul Jennings. The author is probably best known for such works as Wicked, Unreal!: Eight Surprising Stories, and Unbelievable!: More Surprising Stories. His latest work is The Nest, a novel for young adults.
Obsessive compulsive behaviour as a topic for a book is about as far away from toilet humour as a writer can get.You can also read an extract from the novel on the Penguin Books website.So when Melbourne-based author Paul Jennings who is well-known for his many quirky and funny children's stories, decided to write on the topic in his latest book The Nest (Penguin, $19.95) it took him four years to complete.
"I've never taken as long over a book. The Nest took me four years. The story was quite a struggle. I start most books with my reader in mind. With this book, I began with the idea that I would write about a boy who had unwanted thoughts and images that were disturbing," Jennings says.
"I knew straight away that it couldn't be for primary school children with that topic. I don't believe that you should present the world to be a dark and scary place to this age group.
"At one stage I even thought it might be an adult book. Then I came to the conclusion that the person I wanted to speak to was aged about 15."
