We caught up with Danny Pearson, author of upcoming Gems titles Deep Trouble and Cat Brace Face, to find out what inspired him to write for reluctant readers and what we can expect from his upcoming titles...
What inspired you to write for reluctant readers?

It all began whilst working in my local branch of Waterstones. It was my first 'real job' after I had graduated from university. After a while I found myself in charge of looking after the children's book section. It was there that I was reintroduced to the world of children's books. All the famous characters that I had known as a child were suddenly all again in front of me. It was an unexpected reunion but a valuable one. One which set me on the path to getting my own titles published.

Looking back on my childhood I would defiantly have classed my self as a reluctant reader. My nose was more likely to be pressed up against a TV screen rather than buried in a book. I joined the Badger team in 2008 and after watching some of our very skilled authors pull together ideas to form a story I realised I had enough crazy ideas of my own that could morph into a title. After a bit digging around in my brain I managed to pull out my first story, Beekeeper. As I read over the first draft I thought that my younger self would have loved this book. This is now something I always think about whilst thinking up stories for reluctant readers... would my younger self enjoy reading this?

What is your favourite type of character to create?

I didn't really think about this until asked. Whilst I look over the titles that I have already had published I think the answer to this would be creatures and aliens. I guess this may be because these things can be anything you want them to be. They can look like anything, act how they want and do what they want. There are no real rules on writing about such things so this leaves the door open to anything you can think up.

Can you give us any teasers of what to expect in Cat Brace Face and Deep Trouble?

Cat Brace Face - This story has been bouncing around in my head for a while. I showed a few people the first draft of this title, some of which have a cat as a pet. They said that they will never be able to look at their cat in the same way again! I think that's a good thing?

Deep trouble - This came about after a trip to the beach. I was lucky enough to be able to attempt a bit of crab fishing from the pier at Cromer. I had to push some very smelly squid onto a crab line hook. I didn't catch anything that day, but I did come up with ideas which lead to this book...

What are the major themes of your work?

Twists on reality! I love writing about strange things happening in a real life setting. I find it much more interesting if you read about things that could happen right here and now. It could be about a hamster that turns out to be an alien visitor who is an intergalactic gardener (The hamster who fell to Earth) or a mad man who kidnaps the worlds bee population (Beekeeper).

What is your favourite children's book?

That's not fair... I couldn't pick a favourite. It really does depend on what mood I am in. One minute I could be reading about Zombies eating the last of the human race and the next I could be flicking through the pages of The hungry caterpillar. I will have to wimp out and say I can't pick a favourite. Please forgive me.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers/authors?

I am a very visual person and I find it helps to cut out, print, doodle pictures and photos to go with your ideas. Stick them in a book and scribble notes next to them. That way the ideas are down and you can always go back to them if you get stuck whilst writing. There are no 'bad ideas', just some are better than others.

If you want to read more about Tommy, you can view his author page here.