Interview: Iona Rangley, author of 'Einstein the Penguin'

Image courtesy of Iona Rangley

In conversation with Iona Rangley, a UCL postgraduate student and published children’s writer. 

Cia Kohring: Did you always know you wanted to write for children? 

Iona Rangley: I always knew I wanted to write. Like many Lit students, it was my main hobby growing up. I started trying to write for children when I was an undergrad. It's funny because I didn't always know I wanted to write for children, but when I go back to some of the stuff I wrote as a teenager, it sometimes had this slight children's or YA-ish vibe, even though I wasn't explicitly trying to do that. It has now become more focused.

CK: Is there something in the style or the audience that attracts you to children's fiction?

IR: It can be fun because the rules are less important in a way that is quite freeing because, as a writer, you can make anything happen. Obviously, within reason- you have to have rules of the world and that sort of thing.

CK: Where did you get your inspiration for the penguin?

IR: It was a weird way in because I wrote a totally different children's book that had nothing to do with any of the same characters. I was writing that, and it’s how I got an agent. My agent read the book, liked it, signed me on, and said she liked the writing; however, this book wouldn't work. It was too between specific age ranges. It was also a bit chaotic and slightly pretentious, so it didn't fit into any category well enough.

I was then looking at doing something else and returning to the original book (which I haven't done yet). My agent was at a social event and spoke to someone who worked in children’s publishing who wanted to publish a modern Paddington, or something with an animal in a family setting. So then I was thinking, what kind of animals work in a family setting? And I think the animals that work well have human qualities. You can picture a little bear being a kid or a waddling penguin. They are fun.

So it was initially with one publisher in mind, and they did make an offer, but I didn't agree with some of the changes. In the end, the vision of Harper Collins' editor was much more in line with mine.

CK: Did Harper Collins provide your illustrator?

IR: Yes. But they knew that I was a fan of his. His name is David Tazzyman and he illustrated the Mr Gum series, and when I was looking for agents to write to, I made a list of authors I liked and their agents- the first one was Andy Stanton, so I wrote to Eve White first, and then she became my agent, and I got his illustrator.

CK: How was it trying to get published? Was it challenging to find an agent?

IR: I began writing my first book in my first year and published it a year after leaving uni, so timewise, it seems like a long time. But the further I get away from it, the more I realise how easy a time I had of it. Usually, when you send a book to an agent, even if they like it, they tend to be quite cutthroat in so far as they want something ready with minimal editing required.

So, I wrote to the right person at the right time. I don't think she made me an offer to be my agent for the first nine months; we were emailing and sharing ideas. Not all agents would have had time for that. But Eve has quite a small agency; it's just three of them, so she can afford to be more responsive than others. Also, from her perspective, she liked my writing and thought she wanted to get this person under her wing.

CK: I'm very impressed. How did you manage to write a book during your undergrad years?

IR: I think I didn't do enough work, haha. And I did a lot of it in the holidays, honestly. I wrote the first Einstein in my third year and finished it the summer after my third year. 

CK: You have a new trilogy in the making? Any hints?

IR: I've written the first book. It's about spies…It's not officially announced yet; we'll have the announcement in the early half of 2024. Although the actual content of Einstein was my idea, the fact that it originally came from a brief from a publisher I didn't end up going with has meant that this feels like the first time I've been writing and publishing something that was completely my idea from the outset.

CK: Do you see this as your future?

IR: Yes. I want to keep writing. I would also like to write for adults if I have a good idea. But I definitely think I'll always write for children. Maybe it's because it's my job now, but when I think of good ideas, they are usually for children. 

CK: Do you find writing for children more freeing? 

IR: Yeah, for sure. With books for adults, everyone is scared of being a genre writer or not literary enough, and that English student mindset can carry over to children's writing. But yeah, it's freeing because it can work on two different levels. With kids' books, you can have fun and mess around but actually do something very clever at the same time. 

I think there are certain universal feelings connected to being a child and growing up, and if you're someone who likes books, then the books that you read as a kid are kind of the books that informed who you were at that very important time in your life. So, even if your favourite book is completely different now, the books at the core of your soul are books you read when you were seven. And that's why the good ones also resonate with adults.

CK: Do you have specific inspirations in children's books?

IR: At this moment, my big inspirations are Lauren Child and Lemony Snicket. I quite like the Ottoline books by Chris Riddell. Those weren't necessarily my main inspiration for Einstein, but they're my main inspiration at the moment, and they're all people whose books are interesting to adults as well as children. Laura Child does just write for kids, but she does it cleverly; she captures the tone of voice, and her illustrations are very unique.

CK: You are doing an MA now as well. Are you finding it easier to manage your time writing than during your undergrad years? 

IR: Well, I'm doing a few things at the moment. Besides the MA and the writing, I'm always doing a lot of tutoring, and then I work freelance for PR agencies. So, it's okay.

CK: Do you schedule your time? It sounds like many things are going on at once.

IR: A bit. The thing with writing is that I don't need to do it every day, just with a lot of focus when I do it. If I have two hours in the afternoon before I go somewhere, I will genuinely do nothing; I can't. I need to have nothing all day and then suddenly find inspiration. And if you have a day like that, you can get loads done. We'll see how it goes; I finished my last book before term, so I've mostly been editing and thinking about the next book. I haven't left a deadline late enough, so I haven't had that stress.

CK: Do you have any advice for hopeful writers?

IR: It depends on what stage you're at. A useful piece of advice I got when I started writing to agents was from my dad, who said that rather than just writing to everyone, look for people you feel have work similar to yours or whose work you like and write to their agents. That worked for me.

In terms of writing generally, now that it’s my job, I'm more aware of the type of landscape and what's happening in publishing, which is helpful. I initially wasn't aware of categories, who had published stuff this year and who had been successful, and being very on it with what's happening is good. Thinking of publishing as a money-making industry is not a super exciting way of thinking about it, but it can be helpful.