Where did you come up with the names for your characters?

And are any of them loosely based on anybody you know in real life?

Also, what gave you the idea of writing Bartimaeus from the djinni's point of view?

How did you decide which parts would be written from each character's perspective?

How much research did you do in finding out all the historical things Bartimeus talks about?

How long did it take you to finish the first book?

Of all of the books you've written, which would you say is your favorite?

If you were to count the trilogy as one would your favorite change?

And my final question, did you ever have times when you got huge writer's block and couldn't think of a thing to say?

Rolled two questions into one - Gladstone -Admin.

Dear Meandering Weasel,

Thanks for your questions.... Here are some answers....

1. Names of characters: Bartimaeus came from the Bible. I think he's a blind beggar or someone in the New Testament. My Bart has nothing to do with the original, but I loved the name. As for Nat and Kitty, I just sat at my desk trying different names out until I found ones I liked. Some come straight away; others take weeks to get right.

2. None of my characters are really based on anyone I know. Which given that half of them are slobbering djinn or hopping imps is probably a good thing. I guess that all the three main characters have aspects of me, though...

3. My very first idea was to write things from the demon's point of view. So many fantasies have heroic magicians etc and the monster's always the bad guy. I thought this would be very different. Originally the whole book was going to be in Bart's voice, but I soon realised that would be very tiring for the reader. So I switched to Nat as well.

4. I quickly realised that it was a good thing to chop the narrative up so that we never got too bored with one character. Bart and Nat are opposites, so it refreshes things to jump between them. I would try and write chronologically, so that I never got tired of either of them. Usually there was a maximum of 2 chapters per character before I made each switch.

5. I did some research, but not too much. I've always liked historical things and magic and folklore and I've got a lot of books in my study. So usually I just reached out a hand, took a quick look for a date or name of battle or something, and just put it in.

6. It took a little over a year to write each one of the three books.

7. My favourite of my books is Ptolemy's Gate.

8. As a whole, the Bart Trilogy is the thing I'm most pleased with, but I'm proud of my other books too.

9. You get plenty of days when the words don't flow. Sometimes you can squeeze a few lines/paras out, but other times you just have to go off and tidy your office/buy some paper or something. You can't force it when you're tired or out of sorts. You just have to hope to make it up on a good day later.

Bye...

Jonathan

wrote:You can't force it when you're tired or out of sorts.

LOL. I was rereading Ptolemy's Gate, and this sounds like it comes straight out of the one of the books--somewhere...