Janet Foxley: Muncle Trogg

From Muncle Trogg by Janet Foxley

I don't know where the character of Muncle Trogg came from. All my stories start with a vision in my head of a character in a setting, and in the case of Muncle I could see him quite clearly, dangling from his brother's hand as flickering firelight cast his shadow on to an underground wall.

My favourite part of writing is creating an imaginary society with its own culture and customs, and a family and town soon developed around Muncle. From the outset I knew what position I wanted him to be in by the end of the story, but it took a long time to find the right way of getting him there. I always think of the 'bare bones' of a story, the 'what happens', first; the depth - in Muncle's case triumph over adversity, discovering what he is good at and where he belongs - slot in alongside as I write.

I had been sending Muncle Trogg to agents for some time when I entered him in the 2010 Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition, and it was a relief just to let him sit there and not send him out for a few months. Indeed I had almost forgotten about the competition when I heard that the book had been long-listed. I was delighted to be short-listed and still find it hard to believe that I won - the first pensioner to do so!

People ask me if I'm excited at seeing my name on the cover of a book, but I find it much more exciting to see my words inside the cover. I have been writing for over thirty-five years and find it very gratifying to have finally reached the stage where a highly respected publisher is keen to publish one of my books.

I feel delighted and privileged that Muncle Trogg has been chosen to be part of Richard and Judy's Children's Book Club.