This week My Holidaystalks to Michael Scott, Children's Author
Your earliest holiday memory?
My earliest memory is of Salthill, in Galway, with
my family, aged four or five years old. It's a great place. We'd
take a caravan and, later on, a house out towards Barna. We always
seemed to have wonderful weather. Though I know it must have rained
sometimes, I don't remember that.
Your worst holiday?
I have never had a successful holiday in London.
It's always too hot or too wet or a combination of those. Or else
my bags get lost - my bags always seem to get lost when I go to
London.
Your best holiday?
I visited Paris 10 years ago. It's a great city. One
of the things that happened was I discovered the key to The
Alchemyst. I found the house of the French alchemist Nicolas
Flamel. It's a restaurant now, and I went in and had a cup of tea.
While I was there I realised this was where he lived and worked,
and as I left the idea for the series came to me.
If budget or work was no restriction, what would be your
dream holiday?
Last year I went to Hawaii as part of a book tour. I
had 48 hours there, and it is everything the brochure says and
more. It is beyond beautiful, absolutely stunning. I would love to
go back there on holiday.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with
you?
I like to holiday alone. When you travel alone you
don't have to look out for the person you're with. So I'd choose
me. Just me and my camera.
Your favourite place in Ireland?
It's got to be the west of Ireland. When I was a
bookseller, selling antiquarian books, and when I was a folklorist,
it was the west I loved to visit. It is primitive, wild and
wonderful. I love places like Donegal, too - anywhere the far side
of Ireland.
What book would you recommend to read on holiday?
A big book! When I'm flying I bring one big book or
two or three smaller ones. A big one is easier to manage. I bring
non-fiction, because it's easier to dip in and out of. And I think
if you are going to an exotic place, you owe it to yourself to read
about its history and culture. The last book I read was The
Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg.
Where to next?
I am writing a six-book series, one book a year, and
I have to tour. This year and last year I spent a month touring
across America. I suppose it's a kind of holiday, but not really. I
don't have a plan in the short or even the medium term for a
holiday.
Michael Scott is shortlisted for the Dublin Airport Authority Children's Book of the Year. The results will be announced at the Irish Book Awards 2008, next Thursday