Friendship, Family and Time-Travel : Judi Curtin "Stand By Me" Blog Tour

-
 Hi! Welcome! I am so excited to be here! A little while ago, I was invited by O'Brien Press to participate in the"Stand By Me" Blog Tour celebrating Judi Curtins' latest(and 25th!) book; Stand By Me. Judi Curtin? Friendship? Time-travel? I'm there! So following Sarah Webb (https://www.sarahwebb.info/ ) and her wonderful chat with Judi about their longstanding friendship and writing life; and Jenny(https://thebookstheartandme.wordpress.com/ ) with her marvelous commentary on the book itself....(go ahead, take some time and play catch-up, if you haven't seen them already. They are fab!), it's my turn! ( I do want to say, they are hard acts to follow.) Here are some questions I had for Judi. I hope you find the answers as fun and interesting as I did.

- The time-honoured theme of friendship figures prominently in this book, as with all your others. I was wondering if you could give me a personal view on the importance of this kind of friendship in your writing.
Judi: Stand By Me is my 25th book, and I think it's fair to say that each one deals with the theme of friendship to some extent. For me, friendship is hugely important, no matter what age you are, so it seems natural to have it as the centre of my writing. I try to convey all kinds of friendships, from nurturing ones to the toxic kinds we all could do without. I like to think that some of my characters are people my readers would choose to be friends with.
- You've used time-travel as a device before in The Mystery Tour books. But Time After Time and Stand By Me seem to use it as a means of exploring personal history, as opposed to exploring historical events. What inspired you to take this route?
Judi: Well-spotted - there's a definite distinction between the two series. For me the new series came from a desire to know more about the lives of my parents and grandparents. (I've recently helped my father to write his life story.) No matter how many old stories I listen to, or how many photographs I look at, there's inevitably something missing. That's why I let my characters go back in time so they can truly relate with their relatives' younger selves. I'm letting my characters experience something that's impossible for me.
- The inter-generational relationship between older and younger family members has always fascinated me; how it seems to circumvent the parent-child relationship in some way. Could you say something about Beth and Mollys' relationship with their Uncle Graham...their view of each other and how easy or difficult it is to write that?
Judi: I love that Graham is unconventional and not like what the girls might expect of an older person. (They think 70 is ancient!) The relationship works because all parties are open-minded, and allow themselves to enjoy people for who they are, rather than the roles society expects them to adopt. I enjoyed writing about these characters, but it wasn't always easy, since I'm neither 12 nor 70!
- Rico, keeper of the time-travel doorway, seems to be an integral, yet very much background part in the story. How do you view his role? Is he 'teacher', 'gate-keeper', 'accidental participant? He is an interesting character!
Judi: I've deliberately kept Rico in the background, so there's an air of mystery about him. He's definitely not an accidental participant, but beyond that I'm not saying. I'm hoping to write another Beth and Molly book, and I might allow Rico a greater say in this one.
- It hasn't escaped me that the titles for these books; Time After Time and Stand By Me; take their titles from songs popular in the decades that Molly and Beth visit. How do you feel in regards to the importance of this in setting the scene or tone of the story?
Judi: Music is a great way of taking you back, and we all have songs that can take us to key moments in our past. For me, a great part of writing time-travel books is the fun I can have by immersing the young reader in the time periods they won't have experienced themselves. This involves music, fashion, food and more, and it's a huge part of what I'm trying to achieve.

I have so many more questions! But, I guess I'll just have to keep reading to find out.
And, dear reader, please continue to follow the "Stand By Me" Blog Tour. There are two more stops coming up. I know you're going to love them!
Thanks to Judi and to O'Brien Press for including me....I have really enjoyed this. Also, there's a review of "Stand By Me" on the 'Irish Authors....' page of Fallen Star Stories for you. Check it out.
https://www.obrien.ie/
http://www.judicurtin.com/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rights of the Reader

-
Image
The Rights of the Reader; Daniel Pennac, illustrated by Quentin Blake Summer is here and we do encourage summer reading with numerous incentives and programmes. It is important for children (of all ages) to 'keep their reading up' outside of school time. This is the time when kids develop their own taste in books and can be free to read books of their own choosing. And this is the single most important factor in young people developing a lifelong reading habit. But how do we, as the 'gatekeepers' of kids reading, encourage them properly without running the risk of thrusting pressure and our own ideas on them? Do that and you'll run the risk of pushing them away from reading, and there are already so many distractions for the young reader to contend with that can tempt them elsewhere. Published by Walker Books; 9781406300918 In 1992, French writer Daniel Pennac originally published this little gem of a book; The Rights of the Reader. I highly recommend
Read more

The Summer of Lily and Esme by John Quinn....25 years

-
Image
This year marks the anniversary of the publication of an extraordinary book. In 1991, Poolbeg published The Summer of Lily & Esme by John Quinn and in the 25 years since, it has never been out of print. The Summer of Lily & Esme tells a quiet story, filled with compassion, friendship, memory and heart. It is the story of Alan, an 11-year-old boy who has moved from the city into a house in the countryside; in the middle of nowhere.The house is old and extremely large and immaculate; and there is a locked, boarded over attic room that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy who died tragically. Alan is not too pleased with this move and becomes even less thrilled when he discovers his closest neighbours, in fact his only neighbours, are a pair of elderly sisters, Esme and Lily, who seem to be suffering from dementia.  When Alan falls down a hill of brambles and weeds, the sisters, who believe they themselves to be children, mistake Alan for their
Read more

Launch of Genesis by Eilis Barrett

-
Image
A week ago, I played a small part of the launch of Genesis , the much-anticipated sequel to Oasis by Eilis Barrett; this time at Charlie Byrnes Bookshop in Galway. Vinny Brown introduces Eilis Eilis is a remarkable young woman, as you might imagine since she is 18 years old and this is her second book. ( Oasis was published when she was 16.) Articulate and accomplished, it is a real privilege to know her, to hear her speak and to read her writing. Genesis author: Eilis Barrett publisher: Gill Books (8 September 2017 ISBN: 9780717174355 Genesis picks up the story of Quincy Emerson. She now finds herself a captive once again, in the maximum-security prison, the Colosseum as a security risk. Held in deplorable and brutal conditions in the prison, where anarchy rules and rival gangs wage a 'street war' of sorts, Quincy takes care to not make an enemy of either gang boss, while holding allegiance to no one but herself and her comrades on the outside. Food is scarce an
Read more