The Ranger’s Apprentice series from Australian writer John Flanagan has sold more than 400,000 copies in the U.S., and has been published in 18 countries. The author is planning a U.S. tour in support of The Battle for Skandia (Philomel), fourth in the series. Ranger's Apprentice has just been optioned by United Artists Films, with Oscar-winner Paul Haggis slated to direct.

You spent 20 years in advertising, and created a television show [Hey Dad..!] that ran for nearly a decade. How did all of that prepare you to be a fantasy novelist?

Advertising taught me how to write, because I started in the mid ’60s, at a time when there was a lot of text writing still being done. I had several terrific mentors at that time. And I think possibly the best thing I learned from advertising was from a particular mentor who I respect enormously, and that was what to say when you can’t think of something to say. It was problem-solving—here’s what I’ve got to say, now, how do I say it in an interesting way, and how do I make sure the interesting part doesn’t overwhelm the message.

Television taught me an awful lot about story structure and character development. It taught me the basic three-act structure, which I never knew. In all that time, I was writing books in my spare time, by the way.

What kind of books were those?

They were almost exclusively thrillers. I made my first attempt, when I was about 19, and it was a load of rubbish. But it taught me. I’m really depressed by the fact that I threw that old manuscript out. I think I’ve got about 90 percent of the third one I wrote. I started reading them recently, and thought there were a few good parts in there. But it was something I always wanted to do—literally, my dream was always to earn my living as an author. Which is why I’m always walking around with a smile on my face now.

Your books began as a series of short stories you wrote to get your son excited about reading. How did he take to them at first?

I conned him. I knew if I said I was writing them for him he wouldn’t read them, or he’d be bored. He didn’t dislike reading, he was just neutral on it. So I said “I’m thinking of writing some kids’ books, do you think you’d mind checking them for me?” He said, “Yeah, that’s fine.” And then I based the lead character strongly on him, and used all of his interests. The principal two were archery and knife-throwing. And I gave Will (the protagonist of the Ranger’s Apprentice series) all of his physical qualities—he’s 31 now and bigger than I am, but he was a small boy and incredibly agile. He would just swarm up trees. So he obviously identified with Will.

I was giving them to him on Friday evenings at 5:00. I did one a week. And about the fourth week, he walked into my office at about 3:30 and said, “Where’s my story for this week?”

What a fabulous father/son bond you two must have.

It’s fantastic. Michael emailed me and his mother the other night saying he’s reading book seven, and he’d picked up some flaw in it. He’s always very proud when he can find a mistake in the manuscript.

The first school visit I did was to the school he and his sisters had gone to. In the course of the talk I pointed out that this had been Michael’s school, and he was the inspiration for Will and all that. And at the end I was signing books, and Michael arrived to pick me up. And I happened to say, “That’s Michael!” and instantly about a dozen kids raced over to him and asked him to sign their books. He had this huge grin, and he told me later he was so tempted to sign as “the original Will.”

With the series optioned for film, and your having worked in television—do you have any apprehensions?

I’m very grateful to the people doing it. Paul Haggis has won two Oscars, so he’s got a better background in it than I have. He discovered the books by reading them to his 9-year-old son. When the concept of an option had come up in the past—and we’ve had a few approaches before—I’d always taken the attitude that I wanted to wait until around the time when the fourth book was coming out.

When this proposal came in, and it included a C.V. of Paul and he had a couple of Oscars, I thought, this is pretty impressive. The thing that really impacted me was his TV show Due South, this wonderful TV show about a Mountie who was on the Chicago police force. It was so quirky, and I just loved it.

I understand you’re currently working on the ninth book in the series. Any idea how many books the series will ultimately consist of?


Flanagan. Credit: Craig Berrie

I’ve got ideas for at least 10. I’m trying to decide whether or not I really want to do this, but the story idea I’ve got for the 10th book would be that it is the last book in the series, chronologically speaking, but it’s set 20 years after the current story. It’s a really strong idea, and I really like it.

I don’t want to do a book just because there’s a series there, unless I have a strong idea. And integral to that idea is the characters that have developed over the first nine books. I can’t see beyond nine books where the next development will go. So I’m tempted to finish the series with book 10.

But it does leave me a 20-year gap that I can always go back and fill in. In six months’ time, I could have a really strong idea for the next story development and I might change my mind. But the short answer is, I just don’t know.

Ranger’s Apprentice: The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan. Philomel, $16.99 978-0-399-24457-5 ages 10-up