Who are you?
I’m Patrick Ness, born at the stroke of midnight on the new millennium, suckled by wolves (well, a wolf and an open-minded Weimaraner), and schooled by Jesuit mermaids. I’m from America, live in England, and am a blending of both (with a firm genetic trunk of Norwegian. It’s why I’m tall and freckly. Skol!). I’ve had lots of jobs but won’t bore you with the usual wacky list, though I did teach creative writing at Oxford University for three years. Which wasn’t even remotely wacky. At all. Currently, I write books, but that’s probably why you’re here.
What have you written?
I’ve written six books which you can read more about on the Books Page. The Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls for young adults, plus a novel for adults called The Crash of Hennington and a short story collection for adults called Topics About Which I Know Nothing. More to come, more to come.
What else have you written?
Short stories, journalism, radio plays, screenplays. It’s good to flex the writing muscles, and yep, that’s a tip. Check out the Writing Page for more.
What prizes have you won?
Right, it’s horrible of me to even pretend that you’d actually ask that, so I apologise profusely. Nevertheless, people do actually occasionally want to know, so here’s the current list:
The Knife of Never Letting Go won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the James Tiptree Memorial Prize. It was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
The Ask and the Answer won the Costa Children’s Book of the Year Prize and was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Booktrust Teenage Prize.
Monsters of Men won the Carnegie Medal and was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award and the Galaxy National Book Award.
A Monster Calls won the Galaxy National Book Award and is currently (Jan 2012) shortlisted for the RedHouse Book Award.
Again, I’m sorry.
Will there be a fourth Chaos Walking book?
Well, the trilogy ends exactly where I want it to in Monsters of Men; it’s an ending I’m really proud of. So I think that particular story is finished. I’m a never say never kind of writer, though, so who knows if there may be other stories in that world? I couldn’t say at the moment, but I’m not averse to the possibility. That’s not a promise, though! Books emerge mysteriously. I’m helpless to what comes.
Will there be a Chaos Walking movie?
I hope so! I’ve sold the film rights to Lionsgate Studios, who are currently making the film versions of The Hunger Games. Development is just starting, so fingers crossed, eh?
Can I audition for the Chaos Walking film to play Todd/Viola/The Return?
I promise that, if that is a possibility, I’ll absolutely post about it here on the my webpage (and tweet it and so on and so forth), so you won’t miss it if it happens. Don’t worry!
Do you have any tattoos?
Well, yes, but that’s kind of a personal question, don’t you think?
