David J. McMullen is a writer of children’s books as wells as poet, and songwriter living in Melbourne, Australia. In this interview, David talks about his books, his love for children’s books, reading and writing.
VMS: You have been a storywriter for a long time. How/when did your love for story writing begin?
DJMCM: My family tree is littered with literary folk, the most well-known being the iconic Australian author/poet Henry Lawson, so I guess to some extent it’s in my genes. I have been writing in one form or another for as long as I can remember, in fact I think I’ve probably been writing rhymes/stories since I could first hold a pen. All through my schooling, from my early years at primary school through to the end of my schooling my favourite subject was English. I struggled in most other subject but through my essay writing I always managed to get high marks for English.
My love of combining words to form a rhyme, a story or a lyric for a song has always been there. It’s not something I consciously work at to create, the words or a basis for a rhyme, a story or a lyric just appear from within. I generally take note of them then expand on whatever it is that’s come to me when I get the chance later. My song writing works much the same way except on occasions a melody will come to mind which I’ll record and then build the lyrics around that melody.
VMS: Where did the ideas for ‘Oz Words’, AEG Publishing Group – 2008, come from?
DJMCM: Oz Words was my first published book and although it was published in 2008 a lot of the contents in that particular book were written many years earlier. There is a fair smattering of angst contained within its pages, quite possibly because I was young, idealistic and somewhat angry at what I saw happening in the world at that time. I’m still angry at what I see happening in the world today but I’ve found a less angst driven way of expressing my thoughts. I also gleaned inspiration for many of those poems/verses from my extensive travels at that time and from the experiences I encountered and the people I met.
The ideas/content for my teenage/young adult adventure trilogy, ‘The Fearless Five’, also had their roots formed in my early years. Although fiction much of storyline, the adventures, the characters come from actual events in my life, events and characters that I’ve obviously enhanced to create the adventure but much of the story has a basis of truth.
VMS: Why haven’t you branched out and pursued writing for an older audience?
DJMCM: I actually have, in a manner of speaking. ‘The Fearless Five’ trilogy although aimed at the teenage/young adult reader is actually set in the late 1960’s through the early 1970’s which makes the characters – what they do, the emotions they display and the lingo they use, along with the setting and events at the time extremely relatable to those who were teenagers at that time and who would now be in their fifties/sixties and therefore able to relate to the story.
VMS: Some people believe that children no longer read and that with the availability of affordable E-Readers, many believe that sooner or later, children will no longer want to hold a book in their hands. Please comment.
DJMCM: That would be sad if it were to happen. Sure E-Readers and the cost of an E-Book have had an impact on traditional hard-cover/soft-cover books, but it’s my belief that there will always be readers who love nothing more than holding a real book in their hands as they follow the story on their daily commute or as they relax at the beach.
VMS: You have a very attractive author website. How important is it for writers these days to be ‘out there’ on the internet interacting with fans?
DJMCM: Very important! My Website is my window to the world so as such it needs to be easily accessible and easy for those who click on it to navigate. As for interacting with fans it’s vital. If a writer in any form or genre wants to make a success of what they do they definitely need to be all over social media. And with the traditional bricks and mortar bookstores dwindling by the day most writers, with the exception of the lucky few, need to keep those who like what it is they do informed.
VMS: Do you still read children’s books?
DJMCM: That’s a very good question and as an author I probably should read a lot of books, but to be totally honest I’ve never been a vivacious reader. I will often scan new titles to get a feel for what’s hot right now but having said that I will more often than not go and write something completely different. I think it’s important to me, and hopefully also to my readers that I tell the story my way and not be influenced by the latest fad, after all its fresh new ideas for a story that go on to become the next fad.
VMS: What book are you working on right now?
DJMCM: I have quite a few projects on the go at present. As well as working on my next novel, ‘The Jordie Harper Hang-Up’, which is a continuation of the ‘The Fearless Five’ story minus a couple of the characters who met their fate along the way, I have been working with studio in LA developing some new music. After recording the soundtrack to the fictional album within The Fearless Five books which has a distinct late 1960’s early 1970’s feel, most of which can be heard at Sound Cloud I have been working on some songs with a more R&B sound.
VMS: What is your work routine?
DJMCM: I really don’t have a work routine as such. I generally spend some time each day writing or editing my stories or songs but each day is different. If I’m in the zone I will often lose track of time and write chapter after chapter of a story or work on a particular song for hours. Usually I have everything ready to go before I submit a manuscript to my publisher or take a song into the studio. Although it would be true to say that when my publisher hits me with a deadline I definitely do allocate whatever hours are required to meet that deadline, editing and re-editing the manuscript until I’m happy with the final draft.
VMS: What advice would you give aspiring writers?
DJMCM: Don’t give up on your dream. There would be very few authors who don’t have a draw full of rejection slips from publishers. I think I read once that even J.K Rowlings was knocked back by nine publishers before Harry Potter saw the light of day.
One other thing all would be authors should definitely consider. Get yourself a good editor before you present your work to a publisher. It may cost you a few dollars but a good editor will take your masterpiece and polish it so that it’s as good as it can be. And that could be the difference between whether or not a publisher says yes or no.
Find our more about DJMCM in this video or head over to his YouTube channel:
