WHAT NEXT?

Andy has now finished at the British School, Manila, though the Philippines remains his second home. He’s settling to serious writing, finishing his next book for Random House / David Fickling: ‘The Boy With Two Heads’. ‘The final part of Ribblestrop is also ready to go,’ says Andy. ‘I’ve seen advance copies. It looks beautiful, and the final process of editing was hugely enjoyable. The plot is as crazed as...

in the first two novels, and I tried to give the orphans a bit more space to develop. The bizarre thing about writing the series is the characters genuinely took over. I’m too weak to stop them, so they lead off whatever paths I’d planned… There’s an aircrash, and everyone ends up floating down a river. They run across a mad librarian, who – having been sacked in a recent round of cuts – has stolen her mobile library and gone into hiding. Of course, the children get massively involved with her and her passion, which – by amazing co-incidence – is investigating the ancient tribes of Ribblemoor. Cue outward bound mayhem, and wild re-enactment of prehistoric adventures.’

‘Ribblestrop, Forever!’ closes the trilogy, and there are no plans for a fourth adventure. ‘I finished with a tear in my eye, and I finished with a sense of real closure. I don’t mean closure of the school – I mean a sense of things coming together in a satisfying way.’

Andy will be traveling, but spending some time in the UK, visiting schools. He’s working on various projects, including radio plays and the next full-length children’s novel.