Bell, P.G. The Train to Impossible Places. New York: Feiwel & Friends, 2018. Print.
What would you do if you suddenly found a train IN your house? Would you board it?
That's exactly what Suzy (the main character in The Train to Impossible Places) does! Suzy loves physics and adventure, making her the perfect person to carry out the mission central to this fast-moving, multi-layered and engaging story. The Train to Impossible Places is a fantasy middle grade with a release date of 10/2/18 and today, I am sharing a Q/A with the book's author, P.G. Bell!
1.) Can you tell us a little bit about The Train to Impossible Places?
It's the story of Suzy, an eleven year old girl who stows away on a magical mail train that comes crashing through her house one night. She meets its crew of trolls (and one yellow bear) and volunteers to deliver a package to a sinister sorceress on their behalf. But when the package turns out to be alive, and begs not to be delivered, Suzy makes a choice that puts her and her new friends in terrible danger.
2.) There are so many intricate pieces to Suzy's fascinating adventure: the towers, the train, the Impossible Places, the trolls, the interesting characters, etc., etc. How did you create this world and how did it come to you? How did you keep everything organized and the parts all working together?
It started life about three years ago as a bedtime story for my eldest son, who was crazy about trains at the time. It took five nights to tell it and, once I'd finished, it stuck around in my head for about a year until I finally decided to try writing it down. It grew quite a bit in the retelling - my agent and my editors were instrumental in helping me build the story up from a series of fun encounters to a full blown quest. Then it was a question of sitting down and working out the full sequence of events. That took a few weeks, as I always find the hardest bit of the writing process is knowing just how much information to reveal and when to reveal it. I made lots of notes and spider diagrams! All the basic ingredients from that first bedtime story are still in place though, which I'm very happy about.
3.) I appreciated the theme of physics and even the "fuzzics" (Troll version). Tell us about the role science has played in your life and work.
I have a shameful confession to make - I'm terrible at science! Especially physics, which was one of my worst subjects at school, so I resorted to some old revision notes to get me through Newton's laws of motion. I'm fascinated by the principles behind the science though - I like knowing roughly how things work, even if I can't grasp all the details. And until very recently I was working as an assistant at a university science library, which gave me a great overview of all the fascinating areas of research within physics, and their applications.
4.) The characters in the story have discussions about the Web and its effect on their circumstances, and you included both the railroad and the postal service as elements of the story. Plus the trolls were retired! I could see the conflict between new and old, present, past, and future. How did this help you tell Suzy's story?
I grew up in south Wales in the 1980s, when the last of the heavy industry that had defined the area for the previous century was disappearing. Whole communities were left without much sense of purpose or identity, and there was a general sense that the future had been put on hold. I was keen to capture something of that in the book, but I didn't want the characters' situation to feel helpless, so was careful to include some threads of hope. The Express might be the last of its kind, but it has young and enthusiastic crew members in the form of Suzy and Wilmot, the Postmaster. The trolls are inventive and brave, and they're great at rebuilding when things go wrong. They also have a keen sense of their own history, which is why I made a point of including multiple generations of trolls in the story. The younger generation can learn from the experience of their elders, and the older generation gets to see the youngsters forging a new future.
5.) What children's books have had an influence on your work?
I think every book I've ever read has had an influence on me in some way, but there are a few that stand out. The first story I ever remember being told is Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree, and it set the tone for almost everything since - I love anything with travel, magic and adventure. So when I was a bit older I read the Asterix and Tintin comics,
But the biggest conscious influences on my work are probably The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. They're smart, funny, a bit weird, and packed full of ideas that make you think twice about the way the world works. I loved them to bits when I was a teenager, and hopefully I've captured a bit of their tone in The Train To Impossible Places. They're tough acts to follow though!
6.) Finally, why is reading important to you?
Because it makes life richer. It helps you to grow, to think, to imagine in ways you never could have before. It makes you a bigger on the inside.
Read more about the book here!
