Monica Hughes

[ Meet Me ]

[ Posters ]

[ Cover Art ]

[ Appearances ]

[ Books ]

[ Stories ]

[ Translations ]

[ Readers ]

[ Writers ]

[ Teachers ]

[ Librarians ]

News:

Check out the new bookmarks, the reader's check list (have you read them all), brand new excerpts from each of the ISIS books a few other new surprises. Check out her latest book "Jan on the Trail" and check back soon for more information on he next book "Storm Warning." June 1, 2000

I was born on November 3, 1925, in Liverpool, England, but moved with my parents to live in Cairo, Egypt, for the next five years. I learned to read before going to school and still remember some of my early books, especially the terrifying illustrations of Straw Peter.

On our return to England my younger sister and I went to a wonderful girls' school in a London suburb, where we learned to write in ancient cuneiform symbols and in Egyptian hieroglyphs. We had ancient myths and legends, and the stories of the Norse sagas read aloud to us. I discovered the stories of E. Nesbit. I found her wonderful blending of everyday life and the world of magic tremendously exciting, especially when we moved, a couple of years later, to Edinburgh, Scotland, which I found very cold and grey--until I discovered the Carnegie Library and the exciting works of the nineteenth century adventure writers. I told stories to my younger sister and began to dream of being a writer myself.

The Second World War, much of which I spent in London,in the Women's Royal Naval Service, was perhaps the most exciting--and frightening--time. Afterwards I began to write adult short stories and articles. The response was a flood of rejections slips.

I lived in Zimbabwe for two years, working in a dress factory and a bank before coming to Canada in 1952, where I worked at the National Research Council as a Lab Technician. I still wrote short stories, but now I added novels to my attempts to become a 'real' writer, again with no success at all.

I was married in Ottawa in 1957 and came to Edmonton in 1964 with my husband Glen and our four children, Elizabeth, Adrienne, Russell and Thomas. I painted, embroidered, wove--and went on writing. Then, in 1971, my youngest child started school, and I found myself with the possibility of time for myself. Should I go back to University? Get a part-time job? Or try to write seriously one more time. In a book on writing for young people I discovered the terrific juvenile novels that had been written in the 1950s and '60s. As I devoured them, I knew I wanted to become a writer for young people. I had found my voice.

I decided to write for four hours a day for a full year and began at the kitchen table with a black BIC pen on looseleaf paper, painfully typing it later. I still use the same system, only now I have a magical word processor to help me edit. The third book I tried was a science fiction story set under the ocean. It was accepted by an international publisher and published as Crisis on Conshelf Ten in 1975. Since that day I have had thirty-two books published, with two more on the way, plus a number of short stories.

What turned a lifetime of rejection slips into success? Partly perseverance. I also learned that ideas are everywhere and the easiest way to catch hold of them is to pay attention to what is going on in the 'back of my head', recognize these ideas and write them down quickly. I have an 'ideas' file full of possible novel and short story starters, enough for the next ten years. In it are newspaper clippings of scientific facts and human interest stories-- such as the current unemployment of young people in North Britain, which was the 'starter' for Invitation to the Game.

I am particularly interested in the tension between our scientific progress and the health of our environment, so a lot of cuttings and ideas on this goes into my file. I learned how to use my right imaginative brain and my logical left brain together. I learned too how to use the library for research, especially for science fiction books, so as to have a setting that is truly believable, and how to develop characters by thinking about them and their life before page one.

Do I have time for anything else? I swim three times a week at my local pool--a great time for ironing out the wrinkles in plots. I enjoy walking, gardening and travelling. I sew and knit for my family including three granddaughters. My favorite activity is beachcombing, but beaches are few and far apart on the prairies.

I still have a loom, but haven't found the time for a large project in years. I love difficult crosswords, jigsaws and mathematical puzzles. I enjoy socializing with my family and friends, especially my writer friends, and am involved in local church activities.