Thomas Taylor Q & A

September 22nd 2021

Children's book author and illustrator Thomas Taylor is the author of the bestselling Malamander and Gargantis, the first and second books in the Legends of Eerie-on-Sea series. Shadowghast is the third title in this series. He has also written and illustrated several picture books, and children's novels including Haunters and Dan and the Dead. 

Thomas studied at Norwich School of Art and Design and Anglia Ruskin University, and is also known for illustrating the first Harry Potter book for Bloomsbury Publishing! He grew up in Wales and now lives in England near the south coast.

What inspired you to create a protagonist who is a ‘Lost and Founder?’

I’ve always been a hunter-gatherer, a comber of beaches, a delver into sofas, and a hoarder of lost things that I’ve found. The hidden history behind a found object is fascinating to me, and the way one person’s trash can be transformed into another’s treasure is almost magical. As Lost-and-Founder, Herbie is in charge of the little things that fall out of other people’s lives, giving him endless scope for adventures, whether he wants them or not, and me endless scope for stories.   

We love the idea of a Book Dispensary and a mechanical mermonkey who tells you what book is right for you. What kind of book do you think the mermonkey would dispense for you?

The tricksy answer is to say that any book I would select for myself would certainly not be the one the Mermonkey would choose for me. Probably, if I’m honest, I would be prescribed something that reminds me to seize the day and not let precious time be wasted angst-ing about stuff I can’t control. I would no doubt be annoyed to receive such a book, but grateful once I’d read it. 

Shadowghast is arguably your eeriest story so far. What do you think it is about shadows that can feel so frightening?

Shadows, especially when we can’t see what casts them, have great potential to spook us, and even a shadow cast by an everyday object can be startling. We are always more scared by what we can’t see clearly, and nothing occludes our senses quite as troublingly as shifting light and the onset of shadows.

Where do you think you would fit into the world of Eerie on Sea if you were a character in the stories?

I would be a mysterious regular guest at the Grand Nautilus Hotel. I would often be found in my usual corner of Seegol’s Diner, munching on fish and chips with a haunted look in my eyes, as weather and spray rattles the windows, and the salt and pepper pots skitter across the table. Violet might ask Herbie about me, but Herbie would just say, “Oh, him. He’s harmless enough, but I reckon he knows more than he’s telling.”

Shadowghast is out now.