Mummascribbles – Interview with new children's author Edwin Lampert – Mummascribbles

While tweeting recently about my mummascribbles meets series, I was contacted by a new author of children’s books, Edwin Lampert, asking if I would like to feature an interview with him on my blog. At first, I hesitated. I’d written a pretty good parenting interview but interviewing an author would be completely different. I told him to leave it with me to see what I could come up with and once I’d drafted my questions, sent it over to him expecting to be told my questions were a bit rubbish and that he’d rather not take part! Instead, I got some wonderful answers back from him and I am therefore pleased to introduce you to Edwin.

Edwin is the author of The Adventures of Brunhilfer and Brunfin, a new series of children’s books based on a celebration of two very special bears. The first book in the series is called The Adventures of Brunhilfer and Brunfin: The Flood, where we join the two bears, their friends and wider family on their first adventure.

Tell me a little about the basis of the story?
The story is inspired by my Dad and the two bears are a product of his imagination. Sadly my Dad had cancer which spread to his brain necessitating radiotherapy. While it was partially successful there was some ‘collateral damage’. A by-product of this was that he imagined that we as a family had custody of two bears who lived with us. The bears were very real to him and are the heartbeat of our story.

Where did the idea of Brunhilfer and Brunfin come from?
When my Dad died in April 2014 I wanted to find an appropriate vehicle to perpetuate his memory and also the values he upheld and felt important. A children’s book struck me as the perfect medium for both.

You have a career as a marine journalist. What made you decide to start writing children’s books?
This book was motivated by my Dad’s passing and my feeling was that a children’s book was the most appropriate way to pay tribute. I do have a day job as a marine journalist. This is of course a different style of writing but I see the two pursuits as complimentary – and in fact have and continue to receive a lot of support from my colleagues and the industry at large.

The book promotes community participation, loving kindness and the importance of being true to yourself, values that we should all be teaching our children. What other values do you think are important, and will any of these be featured in future Brunhilfer and Brunfin stories?
On the reverse of the book it says: “This book is a celebration of two very special bears. Join them, their friends and wider family on their first adventure. Everybody’s invited!” The idea that everybody is invited, that we are inclusive, is another value we are keen to promote. And yes, these values will underpin future stories.

How many Brunhilfer and Brunfin stories do you have planned and what can we expect from the next books?
Other stories are planned. I have not set a number. You can expect that we will stay true to our values and that we will learn more about the bears, their friends and wider family. Please stay tuned!

This book is independently published, has that been an easy process or have there been any specific factors that made it difficult?
The process has been relatively straight forward. I did look at other models including different print-on-demand. The final route has required more investment from me, but ultimately gives me more control, including over the quality of the product. It is very important that the book is of a standard that would make my Dad proud and that more than outweighs the higher costs.

The book is illustrated by Clare Shields who is incredibly talented. Was she someone you knew of previously and if not, how did you stumble upon her to create what is beautiful imagery?
Clare is a very good friend of many years standing. Clare is supremely talented and I knew I wanted her together with me on this project.

What were your favourite books to read as a child?
So many! As a very young child there was Miffy and at school the Mr Men series. There were always loads of Ladybird books at home and school which covered any number of subjects. Basically I enjoyed reading! But I also enjoyed writing stories too…

How have they influenced the way you write?
I think I benefit from every book I read. Not only in terms of what I write but more widely too.

As an adult, do you have any favourite authors? I enjoy reading widely. It’s hard to isolate one… if I look at my bookshelf there are a few from Bill Bryson. His work is always well written, humorous, engaging and meticulously researched. Are you going to stick to children’s writing or broaden out into another genre?

I would like to stick with children’s writing and broaden out into other genres!