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Author Interview - Helena Pielichaty

Helena PielichatyHelena Pielichaty was born in Stockholm, Sweden and moved to England when she was five. Her writing career started at the age of eleven when the Yorkshire Post published her poem, Litter, hailed, as Helena puts it, 'as a literary triumph by my grandma.'

Helena's writing career was then put on hold for many years until, by some instinct, she joined a creative writing group. The group met in a damp scout and guide hut for only four sessions but she was hooked! Helena has already published many books with OUP, including her infamous tales about Simone Wibberley.


We decided to ask her a few questions about the After School Club series:

What made you decide to write books set in an after school club?
I needed to think of a setting where children could meet on a regular basis but that hadn't been used before. As far as I know, an after school club hasn't been used as a basis for a series. The advantage is that after school clubs have children of all age and social ranges as well as different types of adults involved, so I could create a wide range of characters.
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Did you visit any after school clubs before you started writing? What did you think of them?
I only visited one - the local one in my village. I wasn't looking for characters but things like the type of activities they did, the games they played with and so on. Fortunately I have some previous experience as I used to be on my own children's after school club committee.

If you ran an after school club what would it be called?
I don't know - maybe something to suggest a home-from-home such the Tea-Time Club. I did spend a long time trying to think of names for the series without the word `club' in - such as `The Mob in the Mobile' but ended up keeping it straightforward and to the point.

Who is your favourite character in the After School Club books and why?
My favourite characters are always the ones I am writing at the time, so at the moment it is Alex, although I wasn't very keen on her earlier on as she was always so haughty towards the others. Sammie Wesley lights up every scene she's in - she is always bright and bubbly even though she has a lot to put up with. Sam makes me smile - he takes his job as manager of the tuck shop very seriously - and Reggie is the sort of boy who would have been my favourite when I was a teacher.

Are any of the characters based on real children?
Not really - I try not to do that as the real person takes over and intrudes on my imagination too much.

Will you be writing any more After School Club stories after the first four?
It depends on how well they sell, so it is up to my editor. I would like further books to have boys as the main characters. I have a separate `stand alone' book in my head for when I have finished the first four, and it is impatient to be written, so it all depends on timing, too.

You can visit Helena's own site (www.helena-pielichaty.com) for even more information on Helena and the After School club series.