Chicken Hill seems like a normal town, but pets can talk, the frogs rule over a secret underwater empire and you’re only ever one day away from an alien invasion.

Read on for an interview with BECCY BLAKE on her hilarious new graphic novel Chicken Hill: Attack of the Zombie Cactus.

What sparked the idea for Chicken Hill?

I grew up with many pets and the odd waif and stray that my hippy Mum adopted, I always felt all our animals would speak human if they chose to. When my own kids were growing up I drew them a comic about their pets, in their own little world. I’d draw while waiting for my kids to finish their swimming lessons, so when they got out of the pool and were drying off they’d read and comment on the comic, and the jokes. This slowly evolved into the fantastical world of Chicken Hill where anything was possible and pets talked to their humans freely.

From zombie cactuses to conspiracy-theorist cats, the book is full of strange and funny ideas – where do you draw inspiration from?

From my own life! We used to live in a place in Shropshire, UK, where there really is a welly tree. My Mum’s cat has also seen UFO’s and I’ve never ever fully trusted a cactus. There is a shed in our garden where my husband makes amazing pictures (he’s a fine artist) and I used to know a crazy inventor called Heathcote who could make anything if he put his mind to it, such as a friendly wasp trapper. Tink is our very lazy, grey grumpy cat, who loves his food and isn’t too keen on birdsong. And Gripper is based on a real very excitable, but one eyed pug, owned by a friend, who despite wearing fetching neckerchiefs, farts rather a lot. There are also too many snails in my garden and I wish they did something useful other than eating my flowers.

What can you tell us about Ferdy, Gripper, and Tink, and their dynamic?

Ferdy is a kind boy who likes to invent things and solve problems from his supersonic shed in the centre of the Chicken Hill Community Garden. He has an army of snails willing to help him with his brainstorming, and a very self obsessed fashionista pet pug called Gripper. Gripper loves a sausage roll, and sprouts at Christmas but above all she loves borrowing Ferdy’s big brother Dom’s mobile phone, and films everything that goes on in Chicken Hill, eventually uploading it to the WizWoz app for all to see. Gripper gets excited about everything, and is scared of the dark. Every time she gets excited or scared she farts, Gripper farts a lot which doesn’t bother Ferdy but her best friend Tink gets really fed up with it sometimes.

Tink is Dom’s rather large grey cat, and likes to sleep a lot and take life easy. His favourite places to nap are Dom’s bed or the top of the shed from where he can occasionally open one eye and spot danger. Tink rather enjoys some fantastical dreams, which weirdly sometimes come true much to his amazement, but more often Gripper regularly wakes him up with some tantalising news.

Did any of the characters surprise you while you were writing the story?

Yes, most of the monsters in my story surprise me. They start off really really bad….then somehow the magic and kindness of the Chicken Hill gang rubs off and they turn out good. Just misunderstood. I’m also surprised Mitzu, the mystical bunny, isn’t really psychic but just pretending to be and I have no idea what she talks about. The snails also got smarter and smarter as time went on. I also think, one day, Gripper will get bored of stealing Dom’s phone.

What was the most fun or silly scene to create?

The silliest scene for me to create was when the shed turned into a giant skateboard capable of high speeds, with Colin doing an impromptu gig on the roof. It was based on a scene in a film I quite like, so Colin took over with his guitar, and we needed huge speakers to project all the guinea pig rock n’roll, and the guitar inevitably hurled out flames like a flame thrower, helping defeat the zombie cactuses which had taken over the Mexican desert.

Describe this book in three words.

Brilliantly bonkers fun.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beccy Blake has always loved drawing and writing about silly things and weird stuff. She went to art college in Newcastle and got a degree in illustration and design. Since then, she has continued to do illustration as well as animation work. Chicken Hill is the first in her debut graphic novel series.

Visit Beccy Blake’s website here.

Follow Beccy Blake on Instagram here.

Read more about the book on the publisher’s website.