Today, scientists and authors Christy Burne and Denis Knight are on the blog to introduce us to Wednesday Weeks, the heroine of their brand new series for kids which starts with Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows.
Wednesday Weeks never wanted to be a sorcerer’s apprentice. She’d rather study science than magic. But when her cloak-wearing, staff-wielding grandpa is captured by a power-hungry goblin king, Wednesday must find a way to embrace her magical heritage and rescue him from the dreaded Tower of Shadows.
Read on!
Denis Knight and Cristy Burne
CRISTY BURNE: Hi, I’m Cristy Burne.
DENIS KNIGHT: And I’m Denis Knight.
CRISTY: And we’re the authors of Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows, the first book in our fast and funny new fantasy adventure series for middle grade readers.
DENIS: The nice people at Booktopia have asked us to introduce you to Wednesday Weeks, the main character of the series.
CRISTY: And because Denis and I wrote the Wednesday Weeks books together, we thought we’d write this together too. Only, it’s tricky, because Denis keeps throwing pretzels at me from across the table.
DENIS: I’m not throwing them. I’m accelerating them into the air with a carrot stick.
CRISTY: Anyway. We love Wednesday Weeks, and we’re excited that so many of you love her too. … … Denis! Enough with the pretzels already.
DENIS: Hey, I’m experimenting. Do you reckon I could catch one in my mouth?
CRISTY: Tell these people about Wednesday.
DENIS: But do you?
CRISTY: Probably.
DENIS: Challenge accepted!
[Short pause for pretzel-catching competition.]
CRISTY: And now, while Denis picks pretzels from his teeth, we return to our usual programming. An introduction to the character of Wednesday Weeks.
DENIS: And by the way, I’m happy to report that our experiment was an unrivalled success.
CRISTY: So, about Wednesday…
DENIS: Right. So, Wednesday Weeks is just an ordinary kid, trying to cope with school, friends, and a grandfather who drags her through slug swamps and kraken dens.
CRISTY: All Wednesday ever wanted was to be normal, but normal can be tricky. We’ve all been there, right? One minute you’re trying to do your science homework, the next, fireballs are raining from the ceiling.
DENIS: So in creating Wednesday Weeks, we wanted a character who was stuck between two worlds: the magical world of spells and sorcerers, and the ordinary world of school and science.
CRISTY: Which is not that ordinary.
DENIS: What?
CRISTY: The world of school and science. It’s not really ordinary. Heaps of what happens in real life is extraordinary. Think about dark energy or slime moulds or virtual reality or scabs.
DENIS: Scabs?
CRISTY: Scabs are amazing. I mean, your skin has the power to HEAL ITSELF. That’s extraordinary.
DENIS: Yeah, but so is the internet.
CRISTY: And magma pools.
DENIS: And Mars rovers.
CRISTY: And coprolites.
DENIS: Coprolites?
CRISTY: Fossilised dinosaur poo.
DENIS: Okay. Pretzel?
Book 2, coming in September -Wednesday Weeks and the Crown of Destiny!
CRISTY: Thanks. Anyway, we wanted Wednesday to be creative and curious and to have a real interest in science. Science is all about wonder. It’s about observing the world, asking questions, finding solutions.
DENIS: So when Wednesday and her best friend Alfie are pitted against Gorgomoth the Unclean, a power-hungry goblin king, they use their scientific skills as well as their magical abilities to dream up clever ways to win the day.
CRISTY: It’s really important to us that young people are interested in science. Our real-life planet is faced with a whole bunch of challenges that need innovative solutions. We need inventors and dreamers and creators who can think outside the box.
DENIS: We need people who can apply existing knowledge in new ways.
CRISTY: People who aren’t afraid to try new things.
DENIS: People who can accelerate pretzels into the air with a carrot stick. Think fast!
CRISTY: Ouch. Ahem. Science is a way to make a difference in our world. And scientists need to have empathy and compassion, not just knowledge.
DENIS: Also, solving global challenges requires more than just one person. We all need to work as a team, to compromise and collaborate.
CRISTY: I never liked science as a kid. But that’s because I thought science was rolling balls down hills and timing how long it takes to hit the bottom. When I got to high school, I realised science was also about making things.
DENIS: And exploding things.
CRISTY: And discovering things.
DENIS: Actually, Cristy and I both have a background in science. I’m a computer programmer.
CRISTY: And I studied biotechnology at university. That’s the science of using microorganisms to benefit humans. Without bacteria and viruses, we wouldn’t have beer or cheese or modern medications and vaccines. And did I mention cheese?
DENIS: Watch me launch this pretzel with a cheese stick.
CRISTY: Nice.
DENIS: So anyway, we both love making things. I make things with computer code. Not just web-based financial systems, but fun stuff too, like fractals and mazes and video games.
CRISTY: And I make spreadsheets. Don’t you just love spreadsheets?
DENIS: Well sure, I guess. Not as much as you do, obviously.
CRISTY: And of course, we both make things with words.
DENIS: When we write a Wednesday Weeks book, we take turns writing chapters.
CRISTY: It’s super-exciting, because when you only write every second chapter, it feels like the characters come to life all on their own. We have so much fun, and that’s the kind of safe environment where creativity can explode. Working with Denis was like constantly winning Lotto.
DENIS: Except without the part where you’re a millionaire.
CRISTY: Obviously without that part. Or the part where the little numbers come out of a box. Just to be clear.
DENIS: Getting back to Wednesday Weeks, it was also important to us to show kids that people can be more than one thing.
CRISTY: That’s right. You don’t have to be a ‘scientific person’ or a ‘creative person’. You can be both.
DENIS: That’s something I didn’t really appreciate when I was a kid. I thought I had to choose between being a writer or being a computer programmer – just like Wednesday thinks she has to choose between science and magic. Turns out, we were both wrong.
CRISTY: It’s not always easy to know what you are.
DENIS: I know what I am now.
CRISTY: What’s that?
DENIS: Hungry. Pass the pretzels.
—Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows by Denis Knight and Cristy Burne is out now.
Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows
Wednesday Weeks: Book 1
In a world of magic, can science save the day?
Wednesday Weeks never wanted to be a sorcerer's apprentice. She'd rather study science than magic. But when her cloak-wearing, staff-wielding grandpa is captured by a power-hungry goblin king, Wednesday must find a way to embrace her magical heritage and rescue him from the dreaded Tower of Shadows.
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