In Trowbridge with: Children's Author Joffre White

Well this year has been quite a year because you're not only releasing your new book but reviving the Village Pump Folk Festival. How are you coping?!

Last night they had a meeting for the Village Pump Folk Festival and I stepped down as chairman which I sort of said last night from January because I cant cope with it all but I'm still going to be involved because I always have done for years but at a limited capacity. At the moment my time is spent writing the books and that's taken off at such I really don't have time. So, yes everything is focused on the books and the journey.

The success of 'Frog' has been very positive, so how does the next book carry on from it?

The end of 'Frog' is the beginning of book two. The release date for the new book which is called: 'Frog and the Sandspiders of Aridian" is March 29 next year which I found out from Amazon. Each book is set in a different direction and something fresh. I take two characters and take them into a totally new situation and a totally new world with new characters, so each book is a story that stands on its own.

You're promoting the book here, there and everywhere do you think people will pick up the first book 'Frog' as well as the new one?

This tour, I am going to Taunton, around London, and there are still loads of places I haven't been to so obviously they need to be introduced to the first book.. It will be both books and both journeys being introduced which is really good. It [Frog] has a fantastic following and I guess it's down to technology. It's fantastic. I went into a school and someone came up to me and said they had my book and that was really nice. So yes, it's a double launch.

So tell me, how did the Frog series all start?

Like I said it's down to my son Chris, I've always loved books and my wife has always loved books. From the moment Chris opened his eyes, we used to read stories to him and as he grew he got such a passion for books that by the time he was nine, he was getting through books so quickly my poor wife had to go to the local library every fortnight.

So one night he told me he had read all of his books. He asked me to make a story up and said it would be cool if it was about him. I just made it all up in ten minutes and I kept making it up every Wednesday night for a year.

When I came to a natural conclusion to the adventures, I hadn't written it all down and one Sunday afternoon he sat with me helping create the characters and story ideas. I spent two years typing it up, editing it and finding a publisher and off we went.

Would you say you're teaching children about books and reading?

I tell the story about a boy called Max that I met in London who read anything and everything about motorbikes because I asked who enjoys reading and on this occasion, he was the only boy who didn't put his hand up. At the end I spoke to him, and asked him why? He said he just read everyday about motorbikes. He had a dream he wanted to become a world famous motorbike racer and he had worked out, that if he left it until he was old enough to get on that bike, he'd have to spend more time reading books about what he wanted to do, so he was reading about it now. So he is already on his journey.

That inspired me to build into my sessions to show children how reading can give them control about what they want to do and give them the knowledge to create a path in their lives. If you never read about anything else, read about what you love and what you want to be. I try to inspire people that reading isn't boring and it can be about what you want to do. That's what I do.

There was a news story that 1 in 5 children don't own a book what do you think about this?

Well, it's also frightening that more children own a mobile phone than a book. That's not a problem because of new technology and modern day issues but most of those children don't own a book because there's, most of the time, no room in the house. I have delivered workshops for parents for them to start learning about the magic of reading a book to a child.

That joy of picking up a book needs to be introduced, on the education system and parent's have come up to me afterwards and said they had forgotten what it was like to read to somebody. One chap told me that he felt so ashamed that he had forgotten how good it was to read to his son and he contracted that he would read to his son.

Would you ever consider bringing your book out on Kindle or other tablets?

I've held back from Kindle until next year. There's nothing like the feel of a book especially if you're going on holiday. Kindles are about £80-£150 and you can store hundreds of books on there but if you break it that's quite an investment gone, whereas, you can pick a book up that will cost you £4-£12.

There's nothing like the smell of a new book and a book should look read because that's a sign of a good book. I like to pick the real thing up.

And finally…

I am a realist, not everyone will like what I write. But that's great because you can't expect everyone to like what you do. At the end of the day, if a writer writes for themselves then fair enough write for amusement, but if you want your book out there and want it to sell you need to remember who you write for.

If you really think you'd like to become an author or get a book published, if you have an idea no matter how weird it is, get it down on paper and start building it and read it back to yourself. If you want people to buy you have to go out there and share your ideas with them and share your journey and you have to be ready for people to say they don't like it. Writing the book is easy; it's shaping it and all the editing and proof reading that's the hard part. You have to become objective about your own work.

Joffre White's book tour begins January 9 2012 and a book signing of the next part of the series will be held at Waterstones in Bath March 31 2012. For more information about Joffre and his work please visit: www.joffrewhite.com.