Conclusion of Interview with Ransom Riggs

This is the conclusion of my interview with Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.


You also write travel essays, though not the kind that people normally think of. Is there an actual Cairnholm Island off of the coast of Wales? If not, what island did you base this mythical place on? And did you visit this island?

Ransom Riggs: Nope! There’s no Cairnholm, and I’ve never been to any islands off the coast of Wales. I’ve been to the Aran Islands off Ireland, and I suppose it resembles those in passing. Geographically, I loved the look of an island off Scotland called St. Kilda, which is all craggy peaks and steep valleys. Really beautiful, though people haven’t lived there in decades.


Do you have any plans for any other books with Quirk Classics, say a sequel for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children? If so, will it be based on another bunch of vintage photographs, too? When would you expect a sequel to be released?

Ransom Riggs: I am indeed working on a follow-up to Miss Peregrine, and have spent the last several weeks traveling around the country collecting more photos to use in the book. I’m not sure what our release date is looking like at this point … I know we want to get it out into the world as soon as possible, but I’m only just starting to write! So we’ll see.


How much research, if any, did you have to do for this book?

Ransom Riggs: Quite a bit – but I like doing research, so I probably did a bit more than was strictly necessary. I read books about World War II, about life in British children’s homes, and about the mythical beasts and beings of the British Isles. The parts about growing up in suburban Florida didn’t require any research, of course – that was my life!


Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children would make a wonderful movie. Any hopes of it being made into a movie?

Ransom Riggs: 20th Century Fox acquired the rights a few months ago, and they’re developing it now. I don’t have any casting tidbits or anything like that just yet – too early – but we’re all very excited!


How long did it take you to write this book?

Ransom Riggs: About ten months.


I have read that you also write for Mental Floss Magazine. What kind of articles do you write for them? Are there any other publications you write for regularly?

Ransom Riggs: I’m scaling back on my non-book writing, because there’s just too much book writing to do, I’m finding. I’ve written a number of articles for Mental Floss over the years, on all kinds of different subjects – Alfred Hitchcock, the history of photography, a Nigerian writer named Ken Saro-Wiwa … definitely an eclectic mix of subjects.


As an author, do you have a set amount of time set aside each day to write? Are there any days that you don't write?

Ransom Riggs: Not really. Depending on when you catch me, I may be researching or out gathering photos or doing any number of other things, and on those days I don’t write diddly-squat. But when I am writing, and going full speed ahead, I try to get between 2,000 and 2,500 words done a day. Sometimes I write less, sometimes more, but that’s what I try for.


Do you have any advice for writers who have not yet been published?

Ransom Riggs: There are many ways to be published these days – online, in magazines, even in YouTube videos. You don’t have to wait for someone to say “yes” to you anymore, and if the stuff you’re putting out into the world is good enough, people will find it, and pass it along to other people, and good things will happen. Don’t be so concerned about the medium. Just make sure you have something interesting to say!



Thank you, Mr. Riggs, for such an awesome interview. I look forward to reading your next book.