We are thrilled to welcome award-winning author and illustrator Judith Rossell a Q&A about her highly anticipated new release, The Midwatch. After six years, Judith returns with a novel that promises to captivate children and adults alike with its blend of adventure, mystery, and Rossell’s signature enchanting illustrations. Get ready to walk through the gates of The Midwatch, where nothing is as it seems!
Describe The Midwatch in three words
Exciting, scary and funny
What was your favourite scene to create?
The scene I had the most fun creating was the one where the kids go into the city library and find a sparkling jewel hidden inside one of the old dusty library books. It was fun to create because it would just be really cool. And now I'm thinking about it, I'm wondering if it's also a clever metaphor for sparkling lovely things being hidden inside books.
Which character would you most like to have dinner with?
If I was going to have dinner with someone from The Midwatch, it would definitely be the Countess Straka. I mean, there's a chance, I guess, that she might try and poison me, but at the same time, she's really rich, so the food would be good and she lives on an airship, which would be heaps of fun to visit. And I'm sure she's got some good stories to tell.
What do you want young readers to take away from The Midwatch?
What would I like readers to get from this story? I think I'd like them to get a sense of possibility. In the book, the characters are at The Midwatch Institute for Unwanted Girls, and at the start of the story, they feel like they have no value and they're no good at anything. But they are brave and they're really smart and they do save the day and rescue the kidnapped lady and keep the city safe. And I'd like the readers to have a sense that anything is possible.
What was your most unusual source of inspiration for The Midwatch?
When I was researching this book, I had a lot of fun collecting 1920s slang to use. Some of us just really funny, like Hotsy Totsy and Gee Willikens and I'll be Gums Swizzled. It's all good and I think we should definitely bring it back into circulation.