Today we hear from Saxby Smart author, Simon Cheshire. We did hear from Saxby a few weeks ago – just click here to read his post.

Which books did you love when you were a child?

I think if I had to pick just one, it would be Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’. I read a lot of science fiction: if it had spaceships in it, I read it. And I loved Marvel Comics, too. The Spider-Man comics of the ’60s are still my favourites.

Your characters are often spies, detectives and crime busters – how do you think up the storylines?

There’s a quote from George Orwell on my website, about how writing a book can feel like a long bout of a painful illness. I know exactly what he meant. Each of the eight Saxby Smart books has been harder to write than the last. Storylines kind of evolve out of a weird mental soup, if that makes any sense at all!

If you had to choose, which of your characters would be your favourite and why?

I suppose it would have to be Saxby Smart, he’s sort of the kid I wish I’d been at that age. I was always the quiet kid at the back of the class who never spoke up, but Saxby is very self-confident. I guess he’s my alter ego. But there’s a character called Tom Bland, who appeared briefly in one of the Saxby stories, who’s getting his own book soon called “Pants On Fire”. I absolutely love Tom Bland – he’s a horrible snob, and totally self-deluded, and he’s a joy to write about. “Pants On Fire” is the funniest thing I’ve ever written, I think. It’ll be out in the next month or two.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m just putting the finishing touches to “Saxby Smart’s Detective Handbook”, which is a non-fiction title all about the world of real-life crime and detection. That’ll be published in October.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Being able to live in a world of your own, most of the time. Real life is over-rated, I prefer to retreat from it as much as possible. Of course, that’s also the worst thing about being a writer. You can drive yourself batty. I fell off the cliff into madness many years ago.

And finally, if you could be any fictional character, who would you be?

Doctor Who. Last time they re-cast that role on TV, they missed me off the shortlist AGAIN! What are they PLAYING at?

Thanks, Simon. You can find out more by visiting Simon’s website here.

Saxby Smart happened to drop by Bookbabblers this week and give us a little insight into his world….

My name is Saxby Smart, and I solve crimes. I go to St.Egbert’s School, my Crime HQ is in the garden shed, and I’ve written down 24 of my casefiles, which have been published in a series of 8 books.

To be totally honest, I’m not much good at practical things: when I do one of those plastic model kits I normally end up glued to a chair. Or next door’s dog. And at school my worst enemy is Maths. Can’t see the point. However, when it comes to being a detective, I’m pretty good. I mean, I make Sherlock Holmes look like a tortoise that’s just had its brain removed and replaced with a peanut. Seriously.

The thing is, unlike Sherlock Holmes, I don’t have a sidekick. I don’t have a Watson. That part, I leave up to YOU. Every now and again in my casefiles, the story stops and I’ll ask you a question. So pay attention!

I do have a couple of friends at school who help me out here and there. Isobel ‘Izzy’ Moustique is the girliest girl I know – all brightly coloured jeggings and glittery rings – and she’s also St.Egbert’s resident Queen Of All Knowledge. If I need something finding out, I go to Izzy. She’s a genius.

There’s also George ‘Muddy’ Whitehouse. We call him Muddy because he’s filthy. Oil stains, food stains, the lot, he’s a walking rubbish tip. He’s also the school’s Mr Fixit. If you want any top-notch gadgets to use in detective-type investigations, he’s the guy to see.

The latest volume of my casefiles is called “Secret Of The Skull”, and has a rather snazzy silvery cover. If you’re walking past a bookshop, and you’re dazzled by something reflective with a skull on it, that’ll be my book. Inside, you’ll find three mind-mangling mysteries, plus plenty of those questions I told you about earlier.

Right now, I’m just finishing off “Saxby Smart’s Detective Handbook”, which is all about real-life crimes and detection, and how you can be a brilliant schoolboy detective yourself. Or schoolgirl, of course. Anyway, look out for that in the Autumn.

Your sincerely

Saxby Smart

Mrs Penzler’s class, St.Egbert’s School

Saxby’s latest adventure is in ‘Secret of the Skull’. To find out more about Saxby, visit www.simoncheshire.co.uk, follow him on Twitter or just get the new book!