Welcome to #TheQuickSixInterview with Adam Wallace!
As per usual, we are honoured, delighted and thrilled to have the awesomely talented and amazing bestselling author, Adam Wallace join us at Just Write For Kids. Today, Adam shares his very latest (in the long line up of newest releases) and first title in a new series co-written with the wonderful Lisa Foley – 18,000 Holes in the Universe: Dragonfire. Now, if you love adventure, comedy, rescue missions, Grandpas, mini golf, random portals, dangerous dragons and of course, magic (and possibly also evil brothers and The Goonies), (YES, we do love all those things! Maybe not evil brothers), then you and your junior fiction readers will LOVE this! Oh, and the illustrations by James Hart are completely out-of-this-world crazy cool! Star rating: 18,000!
Thank you, Adam, for sharing your literally incredible adventure with us! 🙂
About the Author
Adam Wallace is a New York Times bestselling author, known for his How to Catch picture book series as well as other books for children including the popular Fartboy series, Cowboy and Birdbrain, Farty Pets, Numbskull and Nincompoop, Pugnacious & Scuttlebutt, the Secret Diary series plus loads more. Adam has had 86 books published and over 3,000,000 books sold!
Besides being a writer, Adam is a primary school presenter as well as a qualified engineer. His books are also famous for being on the TV show Jeopardy and being read at the White House.
Adam’s mission is to entertain and inspire millions of children around the world. And to eat hot chips. But mostly the inspire children thing.
Adam Wallace can be found at his website: ​www.adam-wallace-books.com | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram
18,000 Holes in the Universe is available for purchase from Harper Collins Australia.
WHO wrote, illustrated and published this book?
Well, this is different to anything I have ever done before! First off, it is the first book I have done with Harper Collins Australia, and they were so awesome to work with, what a fun process!!!
Second off, hmmm, that sounds weird … secondly, I co-wrote this with my great friend Lisa Foley. We came up with the idea together and each wrote a potential story for the series, submitted, and got accepted. Then I wrote the first book, Dragonfire, and Lisa wrote the second, Snack Attack. In between we go back and forth after the first draft and work on it together, send it to Harper, they edit, then Lisa and I back and forth again, and so on until we get to the final draft everyone is happy with!
The only constant in this book is the out of this world amazing James Hart, illustrator extraordinaire!!! This is now our 31st book together, with more on the way!
WHAT is it about?
18,000 Holes in the universe was inspired by many things – my backyard which is a mini-golf course, The Goonies, and … no, that’s it. Five friends (Noah, Jordie, Mags, Marco and Felicity) discover a letter left by Noah and Jordie’s long-lost Grandpa Galileo. He is stuck in his own amazing invention, and needs someone to save them!
At the same time, Galileo’s evil brother GOOF is about to destroy Galileo’s home for his own greedy gain!
The kids follow the clues to a very disappointing mini-golf hole, but when the ball goes in … they are sucked into the most incredible, amazing, incomparable golf course in the universe! They must complete the hole in a certain number of shots or they will be trapped. The only problem is that DRAGONS ARE TRYING TO EAT THEM AND BURN THEM TO A CRISP!
Will they find Grandpa Galileo, bring him home, and stop GOOF’s evil plans? Or will they be dragon dinner! It’s very exciting!
What is your favourite part of this book?
I love how the action goes and goes and goes, and James’s pictures add so much in bringing the story to life. But I think the scene where the kids are plummeting off a cliff towards spiky rocks below while dragons are trying to eat them is my favourite moment!
That and GOOF falling in Great Dane poop!
WHEN did you begin writing this book?
So, the first discussion Lisa and I had was on July 26, 2022! We just had a two year anniversary celebration! So, it was almost two years to the day that Dragonfire was released, which is actually pretty quick!
When is its release / launch date?
It was released on August 1, 2024, and Book 2 is coming out in November, with two more to follow next year!
WHERE did the inspiration for this book come from?
Haha whoops, already answered this! So yes, my backyard is a mini golf course. It has 6 actual holes, but I have designed an 18 hole course. As Lisa and I discussed, really there are infinite holes, as you can start anywhere and hit to any hole in any number of ways!
That and The Goonies, which we both love!
WHY is this book meaningful to you?
Partly because of the above inspiration, partly because I created it with not only two of my very favourite people, but also got to work with another of my very favourite people – Angie Masters at Harper Collins. It really has been the best fun!
Why would its message resonate with readers?
The book has messages of friendship, family, bullying, teamwork, determination, belief and more, all wrapped up in an adventure-comedy. We really wanted the action and humour to be at the forefront of the books, as we can be as inspiring as we like, and have all the messages we like, but if it isn’t entertaining, who cares?
We also believe that inspiration will come from entertainment, and so that was our starting point.
HOW do you feel about the illustrations / cover design? How do they convey the feeling or mood you envisioned?
I really should have read all the questions before starting this! The illustrations and cover are SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOD! James is actually a genius at what he does, and the book was also designed by the AMAZING Kristy Lund-White. Together they have brought the story to life in a way beyond our wildest dreams, and we’ve had some pretty wild dreams!
How have you promoted this book and how can we find it?
The book is out in all good bookstores now, and is online as well. There is also an audiobook. We are about to do lots of school visits talking about it and also some bookstore appearances!
OTHER information or experiences you’d like to share?
No. Haha, really, this has been so fun. Working with friends can be a risk, but we have been so open to feedback, and so open with our thoughts, and ALWAYS had having fun in the process as the number one goal, that it has gone wonderfully! And now to have a finished book is the icing on the sugar-free dairy-free cake that I am allowed to eat!
What a super cool, amazing process and totally awesome series! Thanks, Adam (and Lisa and James)! 🙂
#thequicksixinterview #18000holesintheuniverse #friendship #teamwork #comedy #juniorfiction #justkidslit
