Interview with Lynn Brittney, author of Christine Kringle
Due for release in November 2007, Christine Kringle looks set to become a new favourite for christmas. We caught up with the book's author, Lynn Brittney, to ask her a few questions just before the book was due to be published.
Where did the inspiration for Christine Kringle come from?
For several years now, in the UK, we have had various lunatic local councils trying to obliterate Christmas by either banning various public Christmas activities, or by trying to rename the season. (One council tried to call it Winterval!) This has all been under the guise of Christmas being a) offensive to ethnic minorities or b) public Christmas activities being a health and safety hazard. My frustration at these events came to a head just before Christmas 2006 when a local council refused to allow the Salvation Army band a permit to play Christmas carols in a street in London. With my imagination working overtime, I constructed a story about Christmas being saved in England by the daughter of Kriss Kringle. So it just mushroomed from there. I had always held the firm belief that there was not just one Santa but many - all servicing their own countries - and so the Yule Dynasty was born, which I felt was probably run like a multi-national corporation. This seemed reasonable to me.
How important are Brita's and Kate's contributions in bringing the book and its characters to life?
I have been incredibly fortunate, with Christine Kringle, in being able to assemble a wonderful creative team to put the book and the website together. It started with Brita Granstrom, the illustrator. I looked at lots of illustrators' work but Brita, being Swedish, had that wonderful Scandinavian quirkiness about her drawings. She is so much in demand that I couldn't believe my luck when she agreed to illustrate the book (during her family holiday in Sweden, no less!) and she knew instinctively, once she had read the book, how all the characters would look. I was overwhelmed by her drawings. It was like she had read my mind.
Then the next member of the team to come on board was Kate Lowe. Kate really pulled it all together - making full use of Brita's illustrations by pulling out little bits here and there and using them to decorate chapter heads and so on. She has also designed Christine Kringle posters and Christmas cards for me as well.
Then there were the boys at PC Doctor, who made the website. They had already done a website for me, for my first novel Nathan Fox:Dangerous Times. Geoff and Andy love doing jobs for me because they are usually working on constructing corporate websites and getting the chance to develop flying Ferrari games is very rare! But, again, they took Brita's illustrations and my words and made a magical website, which is a joy to access.
Who should read Christine Kringle?
Everyone! It is a book for able readers, so, I guess, anyone over the age of 10. But most of its fans at the moment are ladies-of-a-certain-age - like me! Christine Kringle is the perfect book for Christmasholics and for anyone who wants to find a little Christmas spirit. It also helps to have a sense of humour! Although the heroine is a teenage girl - the other two main characters are teenage boys and a Ferrari features quite heavily, so it's not just a book for girls at all.
What are your favourite christmas books?
Actually, that's a very difficult question, as i collect Christmas books. To date, I have over two hundred. I love them. But I would have to say that my all-time favourite story is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I love it so much I have adapted it twice into a play for adults and one for children.
What's the best christmas present you've ever received?
A hot-off-the-press copy of my first YA novel - Nathan Fox. It arrived just before last Christmas. The release date had been pulled forward because Waterstone's chose to nominate it for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize which was being awarded in January 2007. It didn't win, but the thrill of having that first book and having it nominated straight away, really made Christmas 2006 for me.
Christine Kringle is published by BookSurge Publishing and due for release in November 2007. More information is available at the Christine Kringle website.
