
I was introduced to the
And Then It Happened series of books (particularly geared towards boys, but everyone loves them!) by my librarian, Mrs. Hibbert at the school I worked at in Ontario, Canada. Students fell in love with the books and our school was very lucky to have Mike Wade visit our school! After moving to Thailand, I took the few books I had of the series and read them aloud to my Gr.5 class at International School Bangkok. They, too, have fallen in love with the books. There are obviously no boundaries when it comes to laughing and enjoying learning about the crazy adventures of Gordon, Paulo and the main character, whose name has yet to be revealed.
The Gr.5 students wrote a letter to authors Mike & Laura Wade telling a little bit about life in Thailand and asked several questions. Below are the questions the students asked, and Mike and Laura’s reply. What an exciting opportunity to engage with authors we have come to enjoy. Write on!
(FYI: It also turns out that Laura Wade worked with my dad in my home town in the 1990s! What a small world.)
Dear Grade 5 class in Room 227!
Thanks very much for your email. Life in Thailand sounds very interesting and quite a bit different from life here in Canada. I wouldn’t mind the weather, though! No snow I’m guessing.
So, to answer your questions, here goes!
Question: In the And Then It Happened Series, who is “I”?
Answer: The main character “I” doesn’t actually have a name. Mike wrote the first short story, which became Chapter 2, Opening Day, in Book 1. When I read it, I noticed that he had given names to the other two boys, but not to the narrator. He just kept saying “I” and “me”. I thought this was kind of neat and decided that we should write the whole book (and series) and never give the narrator a name. It’s different, and it drives some readers crazy. Sometimes we have to be creative and word our sentences in just the right manner in order to avoid having to give the narrator a name. For example, when the teacher calls on him, or when he is getting in trouble by the police, the principal or his parents, they can never call him by name. Maybe in the very last story of the very last book we will reveal his name (or HER name!!)
Question: Whatever happened to the butcher booger-man?
Answer: I’m so glad you asked about the butcher, because it gave me a great idea. I think we should do a return of the boogerman. He could come back as another character, like a supply teacher maybe, and the kids could figure out who he is eventually and run him out of town again. But as far as I know, the boogerman has moved to another town and is dishing out his “daily specials” at another butcher shop!
Question: Are the characters based on real people?
Answer: None of the characters are based on real people, except for Uncle Ivan. The way he is described in The Naked Parrot is fashioned almost completely after Mike himself, right down to the dirty truck.
Question: Are you planning on writing more books in the series?
Answer: We are currently working on Book 9 and we want to take the series to at least 10 books. I would also like to write a Book 0 (or a prequel) and call it And Then It Happened: When We Were Little. It would be about how the boys met in Kindergarten and what they were like at 4 or 5 years of age. I think it could be fun. Also, we have thought of writing another one called And Then It Happened: All Grown Up. Wouldn’t you love to see how Gordon turns out? We have thought up some good occupations for him, like maybe a psychiatrist or a school principal, possibly even a criminal lawyer.
Question: What/Who are your inspirations?
Answer: I don’t think anyone really inspired us initially. Mike has a great sense of humour, and I wanted to write books for boys because as a school librarian and I realized about 12 years ago that there weren’t that many series for boys (there are lots more today). That’s what got us started, and now, our main inspiration comes from students who read our books and tell us that they laugh out loud when reading them. That is the best inspiration there is.
Question: Would you ever want to visit Thailand as a guest author to talk to students at ISB?
Answer: We would love to visit Thailand for an author visit, and what a great vacation we could have. The farthest Mike has travelled so far is to Surrey, BC. (We live in Ontario).
Question: What is your favorite story in the series?
Answer: I think my favourite story is Attack of the Scarecrow (in book 3) and Mike’s is Summer Camp in Book 1. He still laughs at the story of the bear and the rabbit every time!!
Question: Who were your favorite authors as a child?
Answer: Mike’s favourite author was Farley Mowat (Lost in the Barrens) and mine was not actually a single author, but a series of authors who wrote the Trixie Belden books under a pseudonym.
Question: What is your favorite food?
Answer: I think my favourite food is shrimp (roasted with garlic and butter) and Mike’s is lobster.
Question: Do you like Thai food?
Answer: We love Thai food, or at least what they call Thai food here in Canada. I imagine it’s a bit different in Thailand. There used to be this great Thai restaurant right around the corner from us and we always went there on special occasions.
Question: Do you have any pets?
Answer: We have a spaniel/poodle mixed dog named Chloe. She is all black and weighs 18 pounds. We’ve had her for 15 years and she is 18 years old. Still going strong but slowing down. We used to have a cat named Felix, but she died in September at the age of 16. She was a beautiful grey tabby.
Question: How long have you both worked together?
Answer: We started writing together in 1997. Wow, that’s 12 years.
Question: How long does it take you to write a book?
Answer: How long does it take to write a book? Too long!! It shouldn’t take us so long, but because of Mike’s busy schedule (he will be visiting almost 300 schools this school year), we are very slow writers. If we counted it in actual hours, it wouldn’t be that long, but since we have to spread it out, it takes about a year from start to finished product.
Answer:
Question: Do you have any children?
Answer: We don’t have any children.
Question: Have you written other books besides And Then It Happened?
Answer: We have written nothing else besides And Then It Happened.
Question: If you really have/had a pet turkey, did you roast it?
Answer:
We didn’t really have a pet turkey, but Mike is a hunter, so roasting a pet turkey is not out of the question. For the record, I am a vegetarian and would never eat a pet turkey
I think that about covers it. We would like to send you all a Fart Chart (from a story I don’t believe you’ve read yet, but it’s on our website so maybe you have). We will autograph them, too. I’m not sure if I have your address, so can you please send it to us and we’ll get the Fart Charts in the mail. We’d love to see some photos, too.
Thanks for writing, and have a great summer, everyone!
Mike and Laura Wade