You've published two Simon Grey adventures. Tell us about the books and how you came up with the concept.

My older son gave me the inspiration. When he was about seven, on a trip to the States to visit his American grandmother, he developed a sudden interest in knights and chivalry. I started thinking: Could a character be created that would connect the two sides of his heritage -- knights from the European side, and samurai from the Japanese side? Like, an English boy who's marooned in Japan and learns the way of the samurai?

A little research showed me that not only could such a character be created, it had, in Chris Bradford's "Young Samurai" series. But still, the idea wouldn't leave me alone. At that time in Japan, "Yokai Watch" was all the rage, especially among boys my son's age -- you could scarcely go anywhere without seeing characters from that show, on ads or clothes or goods on convenience store shelves. I thought about trying again with a shift in focus: away from the martial aspect, which Chris Bradford had already done better than I could, and toward the supernatural aspect, yokai and magic. The more I delved into that facet of Japanese folklore, the more fascinated I became. That was the genesis of Simon: an English boy, born with the "gift" of seeing the world of ghosts and spirits invisible to most mortal eyes, who goes to sea as a cabin boy whenever he can to escape the ghosts that haunt him on land -- and then gets shipwrecked in Japan and needs the help of yokai to find his way home.

Simon is an amazing character, whose kindness is perhaps his greatest strength. Who is he and what motivates him?

Thank you! If you felt that one of his defining traits was kindness and empathy -- which I suppose it is -- then it comes from the place he occupies at the intersection of multiple worlds: England and Japan, of course, and also the mortal world and the spirit world. You could say that his motivation is to find a way home, physically and metaphorically. And in order to do that, he needs to embrace the very thing he started off by running away from.

Oyuki is even more intersectional. Simon has his feet firmly planted in one world, with a window into the other, but Oyuki was born with a foot in each world. My literary children, like my real ones, dwell in the in-between spaces, and often have to grapple with the question of "Where is home?"

You've said that writing the second book, Simon Grey and the Curse of the Dragon God, was delayed immensely by the global pandemic. How did you get back into gear?

The second book is set against the background of the historic Shimabara Rebellion, which happened in a part of Japan where I had never been, the countryside around Nagasaki. I wanted to visit to make sure I got the details right. But just as I was starting to plan my trip, the pandemic struck, and no one was going anywhere for a while. Then, once life started to return to normal, the Japanese government not only allowed but encouraged domestic travel, and I finally got my chance.

And it was worth the wait. I saw the ruins of Hara Castle through an AR lens that showed me a digital reconstruction of what it would have looked like in the seventeenth century. I got a tour of Shimabara Castle personally guided by the rebel leader Amakusa Shiro himself, called down from heaven by virtual reality. And when I visited the Amakusa museum and told the staff what I was working on, they said: "You're in luck. The battle flag we usually display is a replica, but every so often, we display the real thing -- and you just happen to be here for it." So I got to stand in the same room as the actual banner that would have been flying over Simon's head at the battle for Hara Castle.

Give us a rundown of your process. Are you a plotter or do you prefer to let the story and characters guide you?

I'm a plotter by nature. I have trouble sitting down to begin a book unless I have some idea how it will end. However, my characters have lives of their own, and often take the story in unexpected directions. If you compare a story to a tree, you can say that some authors cut it into lumber and build a house according to a meticulous blueprint, while others prefer to let it grow naturally. As for me, it's like a Japanese bonsai: I know what shape I want it to take, but still, my material is a living thing and it has its own ideas about which way it wants to grow.

What are you working on now?

The third and final book in the series, "Simon Grey and the Mountain of Fear." In this one, Simon and Oyuki travel to the far north, which is also where I spent my first years in Japan.

It looks like the tale of Oyuki's father's tribulations will be at the forefront of the next book. Any more you can say about that now?

Yes, the main story will be the quest to find Oyuki's father. And along the way, they'll encounter many new people, places, and creatures from Japanese mythology: an island of ogres, a trio of swords forged by the gods, a cursed immortal warrior, a dragon dwelling at the bottom of a lake...and, of course, more yokai!

Why write for young readers? Do they present any unique challenges?

When I wrote the first SIMON GREY book, I wasn't really writing for "young readers" -- I was writing for one young reader. But if there are others out there that enjoy Simon's adventures, and take inspiration from him to learn more about Japanese folklore, I'm doubly happy.

Tell us about your other books!

I started off writing political and espionage thrillers, because that was the kind of fiction I most regularly read, but research proved to be prohibitively expensive and fantasy was more where my heart was anyway. After the SIMON GREY series is finished, I have some ideas for an epic fantasy series of my own.

As a writer, who or what are your inspirations?

I first learned about the magical power of words to transport people to other worlds from C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, and Michael Ende. I didn't discover Terry Pratchett until quite recently, and when I did, I thought, "My God, where has he been all my life?"

Do you have a writing support system? If so, who or what? Why is this important?

A writing support system is very important -- and hard to maintain when you're living in Japan, where fellow writers in your language are widely scattered. But there is a sizable community of English-language writers here, and we come together every so often, particularly at the annual Japan Writers' Conference. I also have a support network of fellow writers whom I've met at conferences in the States, and we stay in touch online and offer support and feedback. Writing is a lonely journey, and having some company helps immensely!

Where can we find you on the web?

You can follow Simon's adventures at simongreybooks.com.