IN HIS OWN WORDS
From Patrickness.com:
Who are you?
I’m Patrick Ness, born at the stroke of midnight on the new millennium, suckled by wolves (well, a wolf and an open-minded Weimaraner), and schooled by Jesuit mermaids. I’m from America, live in England, and am a blending of both (with a firm genetic trunk of Norwegian. It’s why I’m tall and freckly. Skol!). I’ve had lots of jobs but won’t bore you with the usual wacky list, though I did teach creative writing at Oxford University for three years. Which wasn’t even remotely wacky. At all. Currently, I write books, but that’s probably why you’re here.
What have you written?
I’ve written six books: The Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls for young adults, plus a novel for adults called The Crash of Hennington and a short story collection for adults called Topics About Which I Know Nothing. More to come, more to come.
What prizes have you won?
Right, it’s horrible of me to even pretend that you’d actually ask that, so I apologise profusely. Nevertheless, people do actually occasionally want to know, so here’s the current list:
- The Knife of Never Letting Go won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the James Tiptree Memorial Prize. It was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
- The Ask and the Answer won the Costa Children’s Book of the Year Prize and was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Booktrust Teenage Prize.
- Monsters of Men won the Carnegie Medal and was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award and the Galaxy National Book Award.
- A Monster Calls won the Galaxy National Book Award and is currently (Jan 2012) shortlisted for the RedHouse Book Award.
Will there be a fourth Chaos Walking book?
Well, the trilogy ends exactly where I want it to in Monsters of Men; it’s an ending I’m really proud of. So I think that particular story is finished. I’m a never say never kind of writer, though, so who knows if there may be other stories in that world? I couldn’t say at the moment, but I’m not averse to the possibility. That’s not a promise, though! Books emerge mysteriously. I’m helpless to what comes.
Will there be a Chaos Walking movie?
I hope so! I’ve sold the film rights to Lionsgate Studios, who are currently making the film versions of The Hunger Games. Development is just starting, so fingers crossed, eh?
