Official Interview: Peter van Wermeskerken

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Today's Chat with Sarah features Peter van Wermeskerken author of Mike & Alex.

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1. Can you tell us about your first try at writing?

In elementary school, I was one of the best in the class in the Dutch language. At 14, my Dad, the owner of a local newspaper, asked me to help him one night, saying there was much to do. So I wrote small reports on a meeting of the Reformed Women Club and the shopkeepers of a street. In the journalism course at the University of Amsterdam, I had the lowest education but the highest writing figures. This includes not only news but also interviews and opinion articles.

It was 1988. I was chief at the economics desk at AD Daily in Rotterdam. A publisher came in person to me at the office. He asked, "Can you write a book with interviews with the ten CEOs of the ten biggest companies and their views on the 1990's in Holland?" Well, I did. Soon, the book was sold out. A journalist is used to write interviews. A book is something else. My first book was an autobiography of the years I was a double agent between Holland and the communist German Democratic Republic. That book was, however, initiated by my first wife, Marga. She sold one thousand copies of that book and then passed away...

2. What authors have influenced you?

None.

3. Let's discuss your book Mike & Alex. Why did you decide to use animals as your main characters?

I write for fun. When I finished writing Double Agent, an Autobiography, I suddenly got a twirl in my brain. And there Mike and Alex were born in the onliest forest in Holland. Marga found it a splendid idea, and thus, I went on. We agreed that Mike and Alex should fight animal injustice. Children like that.

4. How did you write the book to keep children entertained?

Among women, a popular stance is "a man always remains a child." That's a proper stance for me, even at 85 years old. When writing Mike & Alex, I simply move into a child's head (that's me) and write. The funny thing is, I think about the weirdest things. They flow constantly through my head for about one and a half hours. Then, I stop writing. The adult part of my brain must bring order in the chaos. So I created the problem Mike and Alex have to solve. The adult part of my brain solves almost any problem. That's how I'm taught at the agricultural school (I graduated as a farmer) and by the oil companies that taught me everything about their industry (I used to be number one in the world in oil reporting).

5. How long did it take for you to write the book? What took the longest?

Nine months. The idea for book 4 with the whale hunters came first. I had to write book 3 to get there. When that idea was born, the pregnancy was already in its third month. Then came the period, which still lasts, of making the book ready for publication (editor, illustrator) and, finally, the marketing. That's the least attractive part for me.

6. What is your favorite character from your book and why?

Mike Rabbit is the smartest of all. He calls on my brain time after time to help him solve the details of a problem.

7. What do you want young readers to learn from the story?

First, the story has to entertain them. Therefore, one reads a book. Hidden in the text, I let the animals behave like I and most parents want, like listening, obeying, and respecting each other.

8. What's next for you? Are there any future books?

Yes!!! Book 5 of Mike and Alex is "under construction." The publication is foreseen in the summer of 2025. The illustrator and editor are already at work. Because I am Dutch, the editor has more work to do on my manuscript than on a manuscript from an American author. Therefore, she gets every chapter when that is finished. There are ideas for books 6, 7, and 8. But book 2 has yet to be written. I know what it's about, but I need time.

I like to end with fun questions.

9. What animal is your favorite?

Elephant. In 1993, my wife and I celebrated our silver wedding anniversary with a trip to Indonesia. On the island of Sumatra, I rode a female elephant. When we had finished, she remembered that I had some sugar cubes. She wanted them, not disturbed by her trainer. She lowered her knee, and she directed me gently to the knee with her trunk. So I came again on her neck, and she ran away, time after time, with her trunk high for a sugar cube. When they were done, I told her. She understood. She changed direction, and we came to the gate. A shop was on the other side of the gate. I bought two bags of sugar cubes, and next to the elephant, we walked back to where we had left the other people. When her trainer, threatening with a stick, ran to us, she, the giant elephant, tried to hide behind me. I calmed the man. This was such a pleasant experience.

10. If you could invent a holiday, what would you celebrate?

I have been to Japan twice with my wife. I am very attracted to the country's people, culture, and civilization. If I were alone, it would be a big chess tournament. I have already played chess for 70 years in a chess club.

11. Do you have any pets?

No, my wife and I prefer to travel.

12. When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I'm an epileptic; the medication made me slow, both in thinking and physically. I was a barrel-chested and bullied. I probably could have done a university degree. Now, I'm stuck at the level of a grammar school economics teacher. I didn't become a teacher but a journalist. It is a fantastic profession. I was allowed to work at a high level. I was allowed to sit at the luncheon with the chairpersons of the central banks at their meeting in Basel (Switzerland). The oil ministers of OPEC waited with their meetings until I had delivered the oil prices and market sentiments of that day. That was rewarded with an interview with one of the journalists, or I got the news earlier than other journalists. As a young journalist, I also ensured, via the local newspaper, that few apartment buildings and private homes were built in a new district. That was what the house hunters wanted. I learned honesty, knowledge of the subject, and respect for others open so many doors for you!