THE STAG, THE CASTLE AND THE AWARD WINNING AUTHOR

THE STAG, THE CASTLE AND THE AWARD WINNING AUTHOR This weekend we were lucky enough to listen to award winning author Piers Torday's, talk at the Chiddingstone Literary Festival in Kent. A fantastic event, despite the unreliable British weather! We caught up with Piers and made him smile with our Stag statue, customised by our resident engraver Nigel Hartfield, with red eyes to replicate the Stag who leads The Last Wild in his famous book. "When I wrote this book, I had no idea that someone would do this for me," Piers said. Our Stag was in pride of place outside the main marquee at Chiddingstone Castle! Wow! Piers talked about his childhood, his love of animals and the authors that inspired him to write. He actually met the legendary Roald Dahl when came to speak at Piers' mother's bookshop! A fascinating insight into the author's past. We hope the children in the audience will be inspired like he was and become writers, they all seemed to love his stories. Piers kindly agreed to an exclusive interview for Chilstone afterwards. INTERVIEW WITH PIERS TORDAY WHAT OR WHO INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE? I always wanted to write, and enjoyed writing stories and sketches and plays as a child, but it wasn’t until my father, completely out of the blue at age 59, turned from business to fiction with his first book Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, that I seriously wondered whether I might stand a chance at being able to follow in his footsteps. WHERE DO YOU WRITE? I am very lucky to have my own study, full of children’s books to inspire me, as well as pictures and objects important to me, and family photos. It overlooks our garden which is what I tend to stare at when I need inspiration. I have tried writing in cafes and libraries, and sometimes have to write on trains and in hotel rooms, but my study is where I prefer to write, with my dog on his cushion reminding me when I need to stand up and take a stroll. I love the idea of writing in gardens, but I fear the glare on my laptop screen would be a problem. Reading in gardens I love! WHAT WOULD YOUR PERFECT GARDEN BE LIKE? The garden we have is pretty perfect (designed by my mother) – lots of lovely pots, gravel, and foliage and fragrance wherever you look, but it is also in a small yard behind a packed Victorian terrace. Were we unconstrained by space and budget, I would love a large lawn, a pond of some kind, and some beautiful trees – an old oak, a graceful willow…and perhaps some handsome statuary as well!

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