{"id":80884,"date":"2018-05-30T16:03:39","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T05:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=80884"},"modified":"2018-07-04T14:10:10","modified_gmt":"2018-07-04T03:10:10","slug":"patrick-ness-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2018\/05\/30\/patrick-ness-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrick Ness: \u201cAnybody can write a book but only authors end them.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"patrick<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody can write a book but only authors end them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

These were the words that had Booktopians Sarah McDuling and John Purcell fall into an awe-like wonder over the man sitting before them. Patrick Ness, bestselling author of\u00a0A Monster Calls<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(now a major film) and the Chaos Walking series<\/a> (also heading to the big screen) came by for a little chat about his upcoming book\u00a0And the Ocean Was Our Sky<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe book started as a joke discussion between me and Jim Kay,” says Patrick. “I just said, completely off hand, \u2018what if Moby Dick was told by the whale?\u2019, because it would be really different.”<\/p>\n

Based on Moby Dick, which tells the story of one man’s quest to avenge the whale that ‘reaped’ his leg,\u00a0And the Ocean Was Our Sky<\/em> focuses on a different point-of-view: that of the whale.<\/p>\n

Patrick deals with the idea of who owns the truth and, more importantly, who owns the story, in this latest book. “I love the idea that the whale could tell the story,” says Patrick. “It would be just as true and completely different. So where does ‘the truth’ rest? Does it land in some kind of nexus of the two? That’s where it started and it got weirder and weirder from there.”<\/p>\n

This idea of interchangeable truth is all\u00a0through Ness’ work. “I don’t intend it,” he says. “Looking back, it’s clearly a preoccupation of mine.”<\/p>\n

It was fantastic to talk to this bestselling author about what makes a writer and what writing means to him. “Authors should be grumpy because there\u2019s a sort-of dissatisfaction with the world and wanting to figure it out,” says Patrick. “You\u2019re grumpy about something and there\u2019s an itch and a novel is a great scratching of an itch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIdeas don\u2019t have an ego. They\u2019re good, they\u2019re bad, they work, they don\u2019t, it doesn\u2019t matter where they come from.\u201d – Patrick Ness<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ness’ other hit titles include the Chaos Walking series<\/a>, set on a colony planet where almost all the women have been killed by a virus. All those living on the planet can hear one another’s thoughts in a stream of words, images and sounds – called “Noise”. Protagonist Todd\u00a0Hewitt stumbles across a girl who might hold answers to this new world’s many mysteries.<\/p>\n

\"patrick<\/a><\/p>\n

The series is heading to the big screen, under director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow)<\/em>, starring Spiderman’s<\/em> Tom Holland and Star Wars: The Force Awakens’<\/em>\u00a0Daisy Ridley.<\/p>\n

So needless to say that Patrick Ness is one busy man!<\/p>\n

Have a listen to our full podcast interview with Patrick below:<\/p>\n