Northern Highlight - Meg McLaren

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT

MEG MCLAREN

Why did you become a children’s writer/illustrator? 

I’ve written stories for as long as I can remember and I’ve always drawn, but my skills were in copying - I could never think of anything original to draw. For me it was a decorative device and not a storytelling one. Maybe it’s because I don’t really remember reading picture books. I was in my twenties when I properly discovered them, and the way that the words and images worked together made total sense to me. I’d never realised I could use the pictures to move the story along and be part of the narrative. That made drawing so much more interesting to me. I was hooked and I’ve made picture books ever since. 

Tell us about where you live. 

I live in the Highlands, in a little village just outside of Inverness. My house backs on to a large expanse of woodland and has views across the Moray Firth to the Black Isle and the mountains beyond. I love where I live. You don’t have to travel far to find a new and interesting view, and there’s wildlife everywhere. It’s a great place to go for a walk, and I do a lot of my best book thinking while I’m wandering around. 

Where do you write/illustrate?

In the very early stages of a book I like to be on my own and I try to create an environment that’s very informal. For me, writing and illustrating are the same thing. I don’t write texts and then illustrate them, I work on them both, jigsawing them together. Drawing allows me to get to know my characters really well and it’s only by knowing how they’ll act in any situation that my story can move forward. Usually I’ll set myself up in front of the TV, put on something that I’ve seen a hundred times and trick my brain into thinking I’m not working. Once I run out of ideas I go for a walk and see if anything new appears. 

When we moved into our house there was already a converted shed/studio overlooking the back garden. My edits, roughs and final illustrations are all done there. My commute is about three steps. The garden is hedged in so I can’t get distracted by anything in front of me but I can hear the kids in the school playground and the birds going about their business. In the past I’ve worked in the living room and in the tiniest of spare rooms so I know how lucky I am to have a dedicated space where I can leave everything exactly where it is and pick it up the next day.

Published by Andersen Press, with art direction by Beccy Garrill

What for you is the ‘spirit of the North’?

I really struggle with this and I’m always fascinated to see what other people say. I really liked what Robin Scott-Elliot said about it being different in different places. I’ve lived in the far north, the central belt and the south of England and Wales, and I’ve written many variations of this answer, both long and short, and they all ultimately say that same thing: I don’t know what the spirit of the north is. It’s something other people can connect with that I can’t. 

Has this spirit influenced your work?

I think it has to because I know that everything around me influences my work. Every book that I’ve written is about me and how I felt at that time, and they’ve all been written where I live now. I grew up just outside of Glasgow, moved to Wales, moved to Cambridgeshire and then moved again. I can pack and unpack a house like no-one else but I leave a lot of friends behind. 

Life Is Magic was written shortly after I moved to Inverness. The book is about a rabbit called Houdini who becomes the star magician after accidentally turning the real magician into a rabbit. Houdini is then not quite a rabbit, not quite a magician. He doesn’t fit in either world.  The book I set out to write is about a magic rabbit, but the book I wrote is about not fitting in and how hard it is to hold on to friendships when your life changes. I can’t stop my life seeping into my books so the places I live must seep in too.

Published by Andersen Press, with art direction by Beccy Garrill.

Who for you are the great northern/Scottish children’s writers/illustrators? 

I think Ross Collins is fantastic. His line work is so full of character and his books are really fun to real aloud. Catherine Rayner makes incredibly beautiful books. There’s a real ease to her artwork that I’m jealous of. And Chris Mould is amazing. I’m really looking forward to seeing his illustrations for Animal Farm.

If you could be transported to anywhere in the North/Scotland right now, where would it be?

I’ve never been to any of the Scottish islands so any one of those would suit me but I’d particularly like to visit Staffa and St. Kilda.

What would you like to see from children's publishing in the North/Scotland? 

I just want good books. I do love specificity. I want to read about the minutiae of people’s worlds in the North, to see them detailed in pictures, to learn new words (which are probably very old words). But my books are not depictions of where I live, so all I really want is great stories, and for Northern writers and illustrators to feel like they have access to publishers, and that there are avenues to get their books out there, even if they don’t live in London. 

What's your favourite children's book set in the North/Scotland?

Where The World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean absolutely floored me. I’ve never read a book that I could see so clearly in my head. There are passages in the book that, when I think of them, it’s like I’ve seen them on screen. I’m watching them happen. It’s a tremendous piece of writing and it broke my heart. 

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