Paul Bright
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Paul Bright was born in Welwyn, Hertfordshire and studied engineering and materials science. An expert in plastics, he used to work for a large chemical company, and spent time living in Switzerland, Holland and Spain. Now he lives back in England and spends a lot more time writing. Paul's first stories were made up for his own children when they were young and he kept on writing even when they left home! In addition to his stories published by Little Tiger Press, Paul has had many poems published in various collections and has also written stories for BBC Radio and BBC web sites.
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Until very recently you worked as a plastics engineer. How did you manage to juggle your ‘day job’ with your commitment to your writing?
Well, fortunately my job involved a lot of travelling, so I could write while I was on a plane or staying in a hotel – and sometimes when I was in a meeting. I would pretend to be writing notes, but really I was jotting down ideas for stories!
What is the best thing about being a children’s author?
Seeing that children enjoy reading your books, for example by reading a review that says: “This is absolutely my son’s favourite book”, or getting letters from children or a school.
Were you a big reader as a child? What was your favourite book?
When I was young I went to the library every week and read a lot. The best thing was to start reading a series, like Famous 5 or Biggles, and getting a new book each week until I’d read them all. I don’t think I had a favourite author, but finding a new author I liked was always exciting.
Do you have a favourite character from one of your books?
Pa Lion in QUIET! was one of my first characters and I think he’s my favourite. He’s rather lazy and always hungry – my daughter says he’s a lot like me!
Do you look forward to seeing how an illustrator has interpreted your story?
It’s always exciting to receive the first rough sketches of a story and to see the first illustrations. Sometimes the illustrations are very different from how I had imagined the story in my head. I’m very fortunate to work with some wonderful illustrators like Mike Terry, Jane Chapman and Lee Wildish. It’s their illustrations that make someone choose the book in the shop and open it – my words are hidden inside.
In CHARLIE’S SUPERHERO UNDERPANTS, Charlie finds himself traversing the globe in search of his missing pants. Have you been to all the countries Charlie visits?
I’ve travelled a lot with my job, but I’ve never been to Peru or the Serengeti Plain, or Nepal. I chose the places and the names partly to have different types of geography (river, plain, mountain), but also to give some interesting rhymes and rhythms – Serengeti is a wonderful word to have in a rhyming story.
Do you base your characters on people you know, or are they completely imagined? Did you have a devoted (but sometimes annoying) younger sister like Ty in CRUNCH MUNCH DINOSAUR LUNCH!?
I think people you know always influence characters. I didn’t have a pesky younger sister, but my son Martin has a younger sister who used to be very sneaky and annoying at times.
   
   
Paul is the author of
CHARLIE’S SUPERHERO UNDERPANTS, CRUNCH MUNCH DINOSAUR LUNCH,
THE BEARS IN THE BED AND THE GREAT BIG STORM, FIDGETY FISH AND FRIENDS,
I’M NOT GOING OUT THERE!, UNDER THE BED, QUIET!
and NOBODY LAUGHS AT A LION!
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