Spy Kids

Private investigator turned children’s author, Robert Muchamore, explains why he made such a radical career jump and why his success came as a surprise.

Two young girls walk through the third floor of a London bookstore. A former private eye is sat at a table, writing on a piece of paper, but turns around when he hears the girls.

“If you’re looking for the signing, it’s upstairs,” he tells them. Then, after a pause, “Nice t-shirts.”

“Thanks,” says one of the girls. “We made them.”

The man is Robert Muchamore, perfecting his speech for his book signing. The girls are just two of his many fans, armed with a bag full of books and wearing t-shirts with the series logo on them.

Author of the CHERUB series of spy novels, Robert is fast rising in popularity amongst young readers. The series has just seen its twelfth and final book published, and he has already launched one spin-off series, Henderson’s Boys, with another, Aramov, on the way.

CHERUB – the meaning of the anagram isn’t revealed - revolves around teenage spy James Adams and his friends, who go on a series of missions. One of the reasons James appeals to readers, Robert explains, is because he’s not perfect. “He gets dumped, he gets into fights – he’s like most teenage boys.”

Robert comes across as a down-to-Earth, relaxed person. It seems as though there isn’t anything off-limits. “I’ve had such a crap start to the day,” he explains at the start of our conversation. “My bed broke, and I’ve just spent the last twenty minutes trying to get my webcam working.” The latter is so that he can have an online conference with a school in Oregon this evening.

Talking to fans is part of the job; as well as holding events all over the UK, he embarked on a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2008. Robert values his relationship with his fans. “Even when you’re a big selling author, you can’t afford stuff like TV advertising,” he says, “so authors have to be quite creative about ways to build up a fan base.”

Robert’s first foray into novel writing came when his twelve year old nephew complained of a lack of books to read, and he tried to write something for that market. “The funny thing is, he’s never actually read the series. By the time it came out he was too old for the books.”

Robert’s success speaks for itself: his debut novel won the Older Readers category in the 2005 Red House Children’s Book Award. Robert chuckles when asked about this. “It was voted for by kids. I never win awards when there’s a jury of librarians.” Of all the awards he has won, he still considers it the biggest, as it gave him “such a buzz.”

It is easy to see why children vote him as a top author. Regularly his signing events sell out, and he has forced queues almost halfway around the top level of Bluewater shopping centre. In a writing style described by The Telegraph’s Toby Roberts as ‘fresh and direct’, he churns out two books a year, much to the delight of his young fans.

Although he has large speakers in his room and shelves full of DVDs, Robert isn’t exceptionally rich. He still lives with his parents in North London, although he has been trying – and failing – to move out over the last two years. Ironically, when The Recruit was first published, he only hoped to make enough to “have a nice holiday or something.”

“I’ve been very lucky to beat the odds,” he says about his success. In 2005, he left his job as a private investigator at international firm Fraser and Fraser after a fall out with his boss – “I threw a box of tissues at her” - to focus on his career in writing. Although his work there hasn’t directly influenced his writing, the amount of retired policemen he knew made it “a lot easier when researching”. His second book, Class A, involves drug dealers, and a drug squad officer he knew from the job told him “some quite good stories that filtered in.”

The story ideas might come from reality, but he dismisses the idea of fitting people from his own childhood into the stories. “I’ve tried it a few times, and it just never really worked,” he explains. The series protagonist is a different matter, however. Both James, the hero, and Robert are lifelong Arsenal supporters, and the character even has the middle name of Robert. “James is the cool version of me,” Robert muses, taking a sip from a cup of coffee. “He’s who I wanted to be.”

Unlike James, who moves from a London housing estate into a teenage spy organisation when his mother dies, Robert, who is currently single, still remains in his childhood home in Islington. He grew up the youngest of four siblings, with an eight year gap between him and his brother, and his sisters even older. As such, there wasn’t really any sort of sibling rivalry. Robert fondly recalls his mum’s strictness, especially with the rest of his family. “She used to say, ‘Just because Robert’s birthday is on Boxing Day, you can’t skimp and only buy him one present.’”

For Robert, the future is uncertain. “I might carry on doing one more Cherub book a year, I haven’t decided that yet.” However, he believes it is now time to do something “completely different.” Already in the concept stage is a series about “rock bands in an X Factor style competition.” That’s definitely something to keep an eye on the bookshelves for.