An interview with author, Russell Ash

Russell Ash has been writing books forever.
I imagine most of us have read, or at least consulted some of his work at some time. Russell puts most writers to shame with the sheer volume and quality of words. For him, it isn't just words though, his books consume hours of research. I caught up with Russell a couple of days ago, and somehow he managed to fit in a few extra words for me.

• Russell, how long have you been a writer?

Since 1970, with a short break in 1980–83, when I was a Director of the publishers, Weidenfeld & Nicolson – which was pretty much the only ‘proper job’ (as my mother used to call it) I have ever had.

• Wow! That's a longgg time. Just how many books have you written, can you recall which was the first and when?

Over 100, if you include those to which I contributed, but was not sole author. The first was Highwaymen, a little book that was published in 1970.

• And just how may genres do you write under? Are you like a few authors I know who change their pen name to suit, or do you always write under the same name?

Two: primarily information books for adults (such as my annual, Top 10 of Everything – the 20th edition comes out this year) and children (such as my big one-volume reference book, Whitaker’s World of Facts, just coming up for its fourth annual edition); and on and off over the years, but very much on at present, humour such as my recent book on strange but true British names, Potty, Fartwell & Knob.
I used to write art books, with a focus on 19th-century painters (Impressionists and Pre-Raphaelites), but I did my last one about twelve years ago.
I have written a few books anonymously and a couple of humour books pseudonymously, but mostly I use my own name. I may use a pseudonym for the children’s novels I am writing, just to keep the genres separate.

• Russell, I know it’s a long time ago to remember, but did you dive straight into a full-length book or did you publish other articles/stories first?

I started work in publishing as a picture researcher and never wrote much more than the odd picture caption before I did my first book. I have not yet written fiction (although, as mentioned, I have some children’s novels on the go), so no short stories. I have done occasional journalism for national newspapers and magazines.

• And did anyone know you were writing your first book, or did it taken your friends/family by surprise? I know I was too shy to tell people when I first started.

My family and friends were fully aware – especially in the early pre-computer days, when I used write in longhand and an aunt of mine typed my first book for me. It took me years to move away from handwriting, although I was an ‘early adopter’, having worked on computers since the early 1980s. I never learned to, and still can’t type properly.

• So, what prompted you to write Potty, Fartwell and Knob

I have long been interested in genealogy, and have done quite a lot of work on my own family tree. Many of my ancestors were cursed with weird names like Claudius, Horace and Sarjeant, while my wife’s Cornish ancestors had the strange surname of Cobbledick, so when the Cornish Record Office published a list of ‘silly names’ (including Cobbledick) from their archives, it prompted me to wonder if it would be possible to cast the net more widely and find odd names from the entire country. The answer was a resounding ‘yes!’

• Was much research involved, did you have to study anything before you completed the book?

A huge amount of research, but also hugely enjoyable. It ranged from delving in Victorian books and journals in the British Library to contacting every record office in the country to tapping into online genealogical databases – as well as asking everyone I know if they were at school with anyone with a funny name!
I have spent my life doing research, so it’s now second nature, and I really enjoy the challenge of creating something that is, I hope, amusing and entertaining out of what is basically serious historical research. One odd aspect of the research for this particular project was keeping a sort of index book beside me at all times, and simply thinking of and writing down peculiar names that someone – if they were really unlucky – might have had, however improbable or rude.
I can’t begin to tell you how exciting it was to check them out and find that so many of them actually existed!

• And your publisher, which publishing house is lucky enough to have grabbed you?

For Potty, Fartwell & Knob, Headline; Top 10 of Everything is with Hamlyn; Whitaker’s World of Facts with A&C Black (part of Bloomsbury, the Harry Potter publishers) – three fairly different publishers for three different books. Hamlyn, for example, is especially strong on selling foreign rights, so Top 10 is now published in numerous translations around the world.

• I know this is a silly question to put to such a prolific writer, but have you any other books in the pipeline?

Top 10 and Whitaker’s are both annuals, and you will not be surprised to learn that as well as an expanded paperback version of Potty, Fartwell & Knob this year, there will be a follow-up to it in 2009. The children’s novels may have to wait until I can take time off from these…

• And before we finish, Russell, if you had one piece of advice to give aspiring authors, what would it be?

Get yourself a good agent. I know it’s hard – if you are unpublished, why would an agent even consider you? But if what you have to offer is original, commercial and well-written (you’d be surprised how many would-be writers can’t write!), and you keep at it, you should be in with a chance. At this point, I should admit that I managed without an agent until a couple of years ago, but I previously had the advantage of a wide range of publishing contacts: as my contemporaries retire – and I don’t intend to – I could see this circle dwindling, so I took the decision to join an agent – and I am very glad I did.

• I can't say how grateful I am, Russell. I know your time is valuable and it's very generous of you to talk like this. I hope we can chat some time in the future.
  
  Visit Russell Ash at http://www.russellash.com/

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