Interview: Suzanne Main talks about The Hatchling

Suzanne Main's first novel, How I Alienated My Grandma, won the Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award in 2014. It was a children’s choice finalist in the 2015 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and is a Storylines Notable Book. Suzanne’s follow-up novel, How Not to Stop a Kidnap, was released by Scholastic NZ in 2017. It is also a Storyline Notable book (2018) and was a finalist in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2018. In 2021, Suzanne’s first two novels were optioned for film by Whitebait Media. Suzanne talks to NZ Booklovers about her new junior fiction novel, The Hatchling.

Tell us a little about The Hatchling.

The Hatchling is the tale of twins, Willow and Hunter, who live with their grandfather. Their parents went missing, presumed dead, on a boating trip in the nearby archipelago a couple of years ago. Their ageing grandfather’s memory is fading fast, and the authorities are threatening to remove the twins from their grandfather’s care and into foster homes. The twins can’t sleep from the worry of it all, but something else is keeping them awake – there are strange noises coming from the locked attic! The close-knit twins are on the cusp of an extraordinary discovery that will propel them on a hair-raising adventure and push their relationship beyond breaking point. At its heart, this story is a celebration of family and homecomings.

What inspired you to write this book?

The idea for this book was hatched when I was doing the Creative Writing diploma at Whitireia. We were tasked with developing an idea and a plot outline for a children’s novel. I liked mine so much I decided to carry on afterwards. In truth, I tend to get excited by the promise of a beginning and the possibilities of where it might lead. It is only when I am in the thick of writing that the themes tend to emerge and I learn what the story is really about and where it wants to go.

What research was involved?

For this story I researched moon cycles and the different types of moon events, like super blood moons, that can occur. I was looking for one that doesn’t have a regular cycle and can occur in quick succession then not again for a long time.

I set the story in an archipelago because I needed a setting where an island could appear and disappear without attracting too much attention so I researched these too. In my mind, I was picturing something along the lines of Halong Bay with which I visited a long time ago. I was hoping to find a similar setting in New Zealand I could use but eventually decided there wasn’t a location here that quite fit the bill.

And finally, I spent far too much time on YouTube watching videos of amphibious craft.

What was your routine or process when writing this book?

I have a busy life so, if I want to get a story finished, I have to block out time in my diary and set word count targets and really prioritise it. I am a slow writer which means a book typically takes me a couple of years to complete when fitting it in around everything else (including unhealthy amounts of procrastination).

Before writing The Hatchling, I had read a book on screenwriting structures called ‘Save the Cat’ and was keen to try my hand at structuring a story loosely based on their recommendations. As a consequence, I mostly plotted this book out in advance. But once I got into writing it, I found myself in a pickle with a ton of loose ends I hadn’t anticipated. It took a lot of nutting out how best to deal with them all. The process became like untangling a knotted ball of wool and not at all like the organised execution of a well-developed plan that I’d envisaged.

If your book were made into a movie, who would you like to see playing the lead characters? (optional)

A younger Bella Ramsey would be great as Willow but I really don’t know enough child actors to cast it!

What did you enjoy the most about writing the Hatchling?

My first two novels were humorous adventures with a touch of sci-fi and shared the same core protagonists. For this story, I wanted to push myself to try something different. So, while The Hatchling is still an adventure story, it has fantasy and drama elements and the characters are new. I enjoyed the change and challenge immensely. The elements that I have retained across books are the adventure and the quirkiness of the characters and the situations they find themselves in. These are what make writing fun for me.

What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?

I struggle with ever feeling like I have finished a book. There is never a time when I can read back through a manuscript and not feel tempted to change something. I am going to have a small party though to celebrate the release of The Hatchling which coincides nicely with my birthday.

What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?

It isn’t a novel for children, but I’ve just finished reading, No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood for my book club and I loved it. I didn’t know much about the book or author before reading it but I wasn’t at all surprised to learn afterwards that the author is a poet. The language and writing are stunning and the themes are contemporary and universal. I needed tissues at the end though!

What’s next on the agenda for you?

I’m having a small career break from my non-writing job at the moment. I’m working on my fourth children’s novel, which will be part of the same series as my first two books. I’m tackling environmental and corruption themes in this one while trying to keep it fun and adventurous.

Dogbox Press