Have towel, will write: Eion Colfer on his new ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’
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Eion Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl series, has taken on a challenging task: picking up where Douglas Adams left off in the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’ series. ‘... And Another Thing,’ the first Hitchhiker’s book penned by Colfer and the sixth in the series, hit bookstores earlier this month. The Irish writer spoke to the Chicago Tribune’s book editor Elizabeth Taylor about the daunting project. She writes:
... from his home in Ireland, where he lives with his wife and two sons, he persisted through the panic and chest pains. ‘Everything was going so well. Why challenge myself in this professionally dangerous way?’ He settled down to work at about 10:30 a.m., had lunch with his wife, and returned to his office behind the house, until one of the children fetched him at about 7 p.m. Eventually, Colfer made his way, inhabiting Adams’ universe rather than mimicking him.
Is there a hint of what transpires in the new book in their conversation with him? ‘In the end, Colfer credits his wife’s no-nonsense sensibility for his triumph over worry. Her attitude: ‘There are a lot of more important to be done than worry about removing a fictitious character’s head.’ Sounds like someone is in danger: could it be Martin? Zaphod Beeblebrox? Ford Prefect? Our hero Arthur Dent?
-- Carolyn Kellogg
