STAR INTERVIEW
http://www.writers-online.co.uk MARCH 2020^17tone, and exotic location and it just wrote itself from there.’
Highfire’s themes include ecological concerns and finding your
tribe, but more than anything it’s a wildly fun read. ‘Writing it
was so much fun,’ says Eoin. ‘And the older I get, the more I
enjoy doing fun. I do stuff that I consider ecologically minded,
I did one about migration – but left to my own devices I think,
how can I create this interesting and amusing scenario and milk
it for every laugh I can get? And how to write it as an interesting
story – because if it’s just stand up it doesn’t work.’
Humour is one of Eoin’s trademarks, whether he’s writing for
children or adults. ‘I don’t think I’ve done a book that doesn’t
have humour in,’ he says.
As a writer, and as a human being, it’s something he prizes
deeply. ‘I learned most of the humour from my own family. I was
from a family of five boys who were all funny. And so were my
mum and dad. There was a lot of that flying around, every day.
So you think that’s how the world works. And then at school you
find that it doesn’t always work like that. But I think at school
there’s a place for a guy or girl who is a funny person. I say to my
sons if you’re ever in trouble with me, if you make me laugh then
you’re out of trouble. It’s a rule in our house.’
He likes comedy that serves narrative. ‘My favourite comedians
are the ones who weave a story, like Eddie Izzard, telling a big, long,
overarching story and weaving it all together. That’s what I try to do.
And Douglas Adams, he’s very close to my heart. Terry Pratchett.’
Vern may be a larger-than-life comic creation, but he is more
than the sum of his eccentricities. Even while they’re either
laughing or appalled by his antics, readers will have sympathy for
his predicament. ‘You have to care about this dragon or it’s just
a foul-mouthed tirade,’ says his creator. ‘It’s very difficult to be
the last of anything. Or to be alone, to feel really isolated. Many
people can’t handle that isolation, and Vern is like that. The only
way he can get through life is to have a couple of friends.’ Chief
amongst these is Squib, a street-smart young boy with a messed-
up background who becomes Vern’s closest ally.
Highfire isn’t Eoin’s first foray into writing about a dragon.“I don’t have an interest in
writing that mythological
creation and trying to do
what other people have done
brilliantly well. I love genre
fi ction but I’m not interested
in trying to recreate someone
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