Rick Joyce has previously published two children's books with Pegasus - The Adventures of Bo-Jangles and Louis' Revenge. He has also written many non-ficton books under his real name (Len Sales). With his third book, Nelson's Travels, due for release this Thursday, he's taken some time to answer a few questions with us. 

1. How would you describe Nelson’s Travels and who would you say it is aimed at?

Nelson’s Travels is a story which could almost be true as it was not unusual for sailing ships in the 1800s to have a ‘ships cat’ in order to catch mice and rats that would damage the stocks of food.

This book is aimed at anyone from 8 to 80 that have an interest in animals, life and nautical trade in the mid-1800s and those who want to enjoy Nelson’s Travels with him.

2. What first made you want to write for children, and what inspired you to write about animals in particular?

Having written non-fiction books, I wanted to explore my ability to use my own imagination and having had the opportunity to write Louis’ Revenge, which was based loosely on a true story about my own horse, I soon realised that writing fiction came fairly easily to me. Louis’ Revenge has been well received and I decided to continue writing The Adventures of Bo-Jangles and Nelson’s Travels.

I love the loyalty and innocence of animals and enjoy writing about them as they don’t really have a voice of their own that humans can understand. It is with this in mind that I bring my characters alive and would like to think that they do communicate in the ways that I have tried to demonstrate.

3. Nelson’s Travels is your third children’s book to be published with us. Do you plan to write more children’s books in the future? What ideas are you working on at the moment?

I do plan to write more children’s books and have a series of fully illustrated books being written and illustrated now. Sausage (a Dachshund dog) and Chips (a Siamese cat) live in a cottage with Mrs and Mr Crisp and embark on many exciting adventures in real life and in their combined dreams.

Sausage and Chips in Space will be followed by:

• Sausage and Chips Under Water
• Sausage and Chips in the Jungle
• Sausage and Chips in the City
• Sausage and Chips have a party

There are plans to continue the Sausage and Chips series as time goes on.

4. Louis’ Revenge was loosely based on your own horse. Have any other animals inspired your stories?

The Adventures of Bo-Jangles is about a dog I know that is owned by a friend. Bo, as she is known, does live near a canal as portrayed in the story and Bumble is also a dog that I know. Both dogs do spend lots of time together in real life and I can imagine that they would truly get up to the adventures within the book if they were given the chance.

I am a nautical fanatic and in particular Lord Horatio Nelson is one of my all-time heroes. So it was Horatio Nelson that inspired me to write Nelson’s Travels and not an animal. I have tried to emulate with the kitten ‘Nelson’, the type of life that Lord Nelson led. Of course in Nelson’s Travel’s the ending is a happy one. If I ever get a cat it will be called Nelson.

5. Louis’ Revenge in particular had an underlying theme of animal rights, and protecting animals from cruelty. Is there a particular message you would like readers to take away from your books?

My hope is that my readers will look at animals in a different light after reading my books insomuch as realising how vulnerable they are and how they rely on humans for their very survival. I would like people to try to look into the soul of the animals around them and imagine what they would say if they could speak.

6. What books did you most enjoy as a child?

My most favourite books were always of a nautical nature and none more so than Robinson Crusoe by Danial Defoe and Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum. Both of these books refer to animals and the positive effect that they had on the men in their darkest moments.

7. What books do you most enjoy now as an adult?

I now enjoy reading little obscure books that I find in old second hand book shops. I also enjoy reading Charles Dickens books and one in particular, The Battle of Life – A Love Story. I have many books about Horatio Nelson and often pick one up to read a chapter or two.

8. If you met a child who struggled with reading but wanted to read more, what books would you recommend to them?

I would recommend that anyone struggling to read, started off by understanding what it is in life that they are most interested in and then reading a book about it. I struggled to read as a child and was and still am dyslexic, but when I read Robinson Crusoe and The Count of Monte Cristo there was no stopping me. My other piece of advice would be to read small chunks at a time.