[Interview] Michael Gerard Bauer on his bestselling trilogy

English below

Hallo :)

Ich bin ein riesengroßer Fan der Ismael-Trilogie und hatte die große Ehre, Michael Gerard Bauer zu interviewn. So viele Fragen und ich habe auf alle eine Antwort bekommen! Ich kann euch diese Trilogie wirklich sehr empfehlen! Sie ist eine meiner liebsten Buchreihen und vemittel sehr viele Werte.

English: Hey everyone, as you may relate with the heading, I am going to show you Michael Gerard Bauers answers to my burning questions on his Ishamel Trilogy. I recommend this series highly and hope, you´ll enjoy the interview below.

1.) What was your inspiration to write these books?

Like every book I’ve written, the inspiration for the Ishmael trilogy started off with something quite small. It was a picture on the noticeboard beside my writing desk. The picture was from a movie version of Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick. I looked at that picture one day and thought of the famous opening line of the novel which is, ‘Call me Ishmael.’ For some reason I imagined someone (it seemed like a teenage boy) saying the opposite , ‘Don’t call me Ishmael’. That was like finding the first piece of a jig-saw puzzle. It started me thinking of a boy called Ishmael who for some reason didn’t like his name.  It took me three books to eventually find all the other pieces!

2.) How was the writing process?

1.       I think about a story for a long time before I start writing. I have to find the key elements of the story and I definitely have to find an ending that I really like before I type a single word. I assumed at first that there would be just one Ishmael book, but by the time I finished Don’t Call Me Ishmael I’d falling in love with all the characters and they were still in my head with plenty of stories left to tell. 

3.) Can you tell us something about your writing routine?

       When I’m in the middle of writing a book my routine is quite simple. I always write at home and do everything on my laptop. I tend to write during the day with breaks for eating and drinking coffee and then stop in the afternoon. I don’t write much at night. I like to go for a long walk every day for about an hour around my neighbourhood and think about the story I’m writing. Walking really helps me work out the story, solve problems and come up with new ideas. Go for long walks – that’s my number one writing tip!

4.) Which of the characters do you identify most with?

Probably I relate most to Ishmael himself because I’m not an extrovert and I also hated doing talks in class when I was at school. I can also relate to his Kelly Faulkner struggles! I like to think I’ve also got a good sense of humour like Razz, but without his super confident personality. My wife was a Maths/Science teacher but luckily she is very different from Ignatius!

5.) Which book was the hardest to write? Which the easiest? Of which book are you the proudest of?

Probably the first Ishmael was hardest to write because it was all new and I had to find, develop and get to know the characters. The second was probably the easiest because I was so familiar with the characters and setting by then. The third book had the challenge of covering two years and trying to get all the stories I wanted to tell into the final draft. It was also very important for me to get the ending of the series right. So that was a challenge. Having said all that, no writing is ever ‘easy’.

6.) Do you think that James Scooby is a good ad realistic example, if people ask themselves how to deal with bully? What is your personal recommendation?

I certainly don’t have all the answers on how to deal with bullies. James Scobie’s methods in the series are very effective for him but not everyone can do what James does. Razz can just ignore and make fun of the bully because he is so confident in himself, but not everyone is like Razz. There’s not just one solution to bullying. I think if you are bullied then talking to someone about it and having good friends for support are very important. This is what finally saves Bill Kingsley.

7.) Are you publishing any other book in the future?

At present I’m working on a serious young adult novel. My most recent book was a YA novel called The Things That Will Not Stand. I think it will be published in Germany later this year. I’m really looking forward to that happening.

   8.) What is your favorite book / are your favorite books? What do you like reading?

       There are heaps of books I love both new and old. I read a lot of Young Adult books. One of my favourites is The Messenger by the Australian writer Markus Zusak. I also love his adult novel The Book Thief. A couple of my favourite classic novels are Catch 22 and The Grapes of Wrath.  In general I enjoy reading because it takes me into other worlds and lets me see things through other people’s eyes. I love the power of words to move people and the feeling of getting lost in a good story.

9.) If you could change some aspects in the books, what would it be?

   I don’t think I’d change anything about the books really. I’m not saying they’re perfect by any means but I’m very proud of the Ishmael trilogy and I’m happy to let them stand as they are. Once your books are published I think you have to pass them over to the readers and move on to the next project.

10.) What was your intention with publishing the Ishmael books? Did yiu just want to publish or to raise up a specific topic?

     I always say that when you write a book, your first audience is yourself. So when I was writing the Ishmael books I wanted to write a story that would make me laugh, but also one that would move me and say something about things that I think are important.  I never write to teach people something or send a particular message, but every writer’s values and their view of life filters through their stories in some way. For me the Ishmael series is about the importance of friendship and love, of finding your voice and believing in yourself and of letting other people be who they are.  Of course I had no idea that was the case when I started writing it!

11.) When did you start writing and why?

I started writing when I was a teenager. The first thing I wrote were song lyrics because I dreamed of being a singer-songwriter.( I finally got to at least pretend to be one when I wrote the second Ishmael book and made Ishmael’s father a singer-songwriter in the band The Dugongs.) But I was a bit shy to be a performer so I went to University and became a teacher for quite a long time. I kept dreaming of being a writer of some sort but didn’t really have the time to try it seriously. I eventually took time off teaching in 2000 to start writing my first novel The Running Man.  It was published in 2004. I always wanted to write because I love stories and I as I said before, I love the power of words to move people and change the way they see the world and those around them.

I am very grateful for the time you took to answer my questions in detail! Thank you so much!