JULIAN CLARY

“Like lots of things in my career, you couldn’t make it up. You couldn’t predict ‘I think I’ll learn to ballroom dance’ or Big Brother. Having written the novels I found it very difficult. It’s a very difficult process writing a novel. It sort of takes a lot of out of you. But children’s books, you just find your inner child and you can just use your imagination. It’s obviously a lot easier. The problem I have with the adults is getting anyone to take you seriously as a writer – and now you don’t have to wish for that with the children’s books. It’s as silly as you want it to be,” he explains. “Children’s books can work on different levels, so it’s for the adults reading it to the child as well. It’s a bit like when I did panto, it’s a children’s show but I’ve got sort of one eye on getting a laugh from the adults. “They’re children’s books but part of me thinks I’ve written these for gay men to read, because they’re quite camp too.”