A fantastic tale spinner from down under

Marika Azzopardi meets Deborah Abela, an Australian children's best-selling author with Maltese roots

It takes more than mere imagination to create a spellbinding children's book. Deborah Abela knows as much. The creator of one of Australia's children's best-seller series, Deborah is in Malta to re-discover lost family roots and research a new adventure for Max Remy to embark upon.

"The stories about Max Remy revolve around an adventurous 11-year-old girl who travels the world to right wrongs amid high-tech gadgets and head spinning perils. However, the first book I wrote was about a child football legend with a Maltese name - Jasper Zammit. The book about Max Remy was a totally different experiment."

Actually it seems to have been a pretty successful one, seeing as Ms Abela is eagerly waiting to see her seventh book in the Max Remy series published in Australia, while the first two will be published contemporarily in the UK and the US this month.

"These first two books in the series, called The Time and Space Machine and Spy Force Revealed will be on sale in Malta soon. They were originally one whole book, but it became so long it had to be divided. I'm very excited about all this and my visit here is partly to promote the books and meet children in various schools."

So what is the difference between child readers in Australia, those in the UK and in Malta? Ms Abela claims she's found that children everywhere share the same sense of humour. "You know, during my school visits, whether in Malta or Australia, the kids all laughed at exactly the same phrases and incidents in the book. I believe children basically all share the same concerns, problems and experiences, whether at home, at school, with friends and so on. Certain situations are common to all - take bullying or busy mums. They are part and parcel of almost every 11-year-old's existence. As regards the text, the publishers had to carry out very slight alterations in the language. For instance, in Australia a quilt is called a doona, in the States it is a duvet. Kids in the UK or Malta would never know what a doona is!"

Doonas apart, the books also reveal widespread travelling experiences, with extravagant backdrops such as Hollywood and the Amazon Forest. Ms Abela has apparently found the best combination in life - travel to write and write to travel! Each time one book is complete, she concentrates on a new adventure. Take her upcoming book in the series. A trip to Venice heralds Max Remy's seventh spy adventure, set in that beautiful Italian city. Does Ms Abela's visit to Malta equal a Max Remy adventure based here?

She smiles widely and chuckles. "Well, yes I have travelled widely and I do use travelling as a way of gathering direct inspiration for my writing. And no, it's not a bad arrangement at all! My visit to Malta does include plans to study locations to which I could be sending Max in the very near future. But there are closer ties to this island."

In reality, Ms Abela's father was born in Malta, emigrating to Australia with all his family as a child in 1945. A childhood dream to trace her roots was constantly strengthened by her father's repeat screening of aging film footage and several faded Polaroid pictures.

"I loved watching that film. It was whisked out at every and any occasion, whenever friends visited or even on rainy Sunday afternoons. I still remember remarking to dad how barren Malta seemed without the trees. I must have seen that film at least 50 odd times."

Visiting Rabat is high on her list of must-do activities, as it is her grandfather's native town. She wonders whether she'll manage to meet people who knew her family.

"You see, that is another reason for my visit here. As I travel around the islands I am making mental notes of locations to use in my next book and I shall be spending the rest of my time here to write."

Does it take her long to write? Ms Abela admits that at first it takes some six months for the idea to germinate slowly. Eventually the whole book is completed in two months of solid work.

Having spent seven years working for children's TV has provided ample insight. "I try to write in a language which is easy for a pre-teen to understand. Plots are pretty straightforward, getting more and more complicated as the story progresses. I find that writing is like composing a puzzle. There are several viable bits and pieces - the trick is to bring them together in a succinct way."

Her greatest challenge is to keep the children interested. To test her final product she always makes it a point to give the story to three children to read. If they say it's ok, she knows it will work. Her long experience with children does come in handy.

She explains how in Australia it is customary to have lots of festivals connected with books. All of August is dedicated to children's books, with book fairs, parades, exhibitions, characters in costumes and author visits. The activities are usually organised by the non-governmental Children's Book Council, which involves schools.

"Some of the posh schools hold their very own separate literature festivals during other periods of the year, also bringing in authors to meet their pupils. The latter exercise can be pretty expensive as it has to cover costs of flying authors over, lodging them for the duration of the festival and paying them for the effort."

"Unfortunately in Australia, not enough kids read. Kids in the UK seem to read more and from what I'm seeing here, children do seem quite interested in reading. It doesn't matter which book kids read, the important thing is for them to be excited about the next story they're going to delve into."

In actual fact Max Remy's double life and its escapades should keep kids on their toes, breathlessly waiting for the next adventure. My hunch is, however, that most kids in Malta will be particularly eager to read what this prolific author has in store for the great Maltese adventure of her super spy!

This interview was possible thanks to Merlin Library. Ms Abela's books, published by Oxford University Press, are going on sale at all leading bookshops. Tomorrow, the first two books in the Max Remy series will be launched in Malta, Europe and the US at a special event taking place at St James Cavalier at which Ms Abela will be present. Some places are left: Call 2122 1205 or send an e-mail to mail@merlinlibrary.com for bookings.