Craig, Joe 1979- (Joe Alexander Craig)

PERSONAL:

Born December 31, 1979. Education: Emmanuel College, Cambridge, M.A., 2002. Hobbies and other interests: Music, watching films, reading, collecting frogs, eating lunch, cooking, Aesop's fables, dancing Tango, playing poker, painting, eating Haribo sweets, and playing five-a-side football and cricket.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. E-mail—joe@joecraig.co.uk.

CAREER:

Songwriter, musician, and author.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Most Promising Young Writer, Vivian Ellis Prize, 1999, for best first musical; Bolton Children's Book Award, 2006, for Jimmy Coates: Killer.

WRITINGS:

(Composer) John Finnemore, Told You So (play), produced in London, England, 2002.

"JIMMY COATES" SERIES; FOR CHILDREN

Jimmy Coates: Killer, HarperCollins (London, England), 2005, published as Jimmy Coates: Assassin?, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

Jimmy Coates: Target, HarperCollins (London, England), 2006, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.

Jimmy Coates: Revenge, HarperCollins (London, England), 2007.

Jimmy Coates: Sabotage, HarperCollins (London, England), 2007.

Jimmy Coates: Survival, HarperCollins (London, England), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

Joe Craig was born and raised in England, and attended Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge, where he earned a degree in philosophy. Craig was interested in music from a young age and spent time writing songs during his formative years and following graduation. He earned a Vivian Ellis Prize for Most Promising Young Writer for his first musical in 1999. At Cambridge he wrote for the Cambridge Footlights, as well as for the university's radio station, where he contributed to the "Ali and Joe Show." Then in 2002 he wrote the music for Told You So, a musical production by playwright John Finnemore that played in London that year over the Christmas holiday. It was not his intention to become a professional writer of children's novels, but the success of his "Jimmy Coates" series swiftly changed his plans.

Jimmy Coates: Killer, which was published in the United States as Jimmy Coates: Assassin?, is the first book in Craig's popular series. Likened to other popular adventure stories for middle-grade children, such as Anthony Horowitz's "Alex Rider" books, the novel features eleven-year-old Jimmy Coates. Jimmy is a young boy who discovers he has amazing powers, most notably the ability to perform fantastic, seemingly impossible physical stunts. But that is not the only thing that Jimmy has discovered. There are men chasing him everywhere he goes, and only his special abilities seem to keep him one step ahead. Jimmy sets out to find the truth about himself, why his parents have been lying to him, and just who is out to get him. In a review for School Library Journal, Hillias J. Martin predicted that the "humorous mishaps and athletic thrills will leave middle-grade boys drooling for the next installment." The book went on to win the Bolton Children's Book Award from the University of Bolton.

Jimmy's adventures continue in Jimmy Coates: Target. In this installment, Jimmy has learned the truth: he's being hunted by a government organization called NJ7—the organization that created him. NJ7 built Jimmy to be a weapon—a highly trained and specialized assassin—and now that he has escaped from them they want him back. But Jimmy knows he is still thirty-eight percent human, and that part wants to be free. It seems like a feasible wish until someone from the past comes after him, and this new threat has all the same abilities as Jimmy. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews remarked of that the "roaring, constant action zooms along."

Jimmy Coates: Revenge, the third title in the series, finds Jimmy and his friends escaping to the United States in a continued effort to hide from NJ7. Losing himself in the streets of New York City's Chinatown, Jimmy hopes that no one has tracked him. But then he begins to have mysterious headaches and inexplicable flashes, Jimmy suddenly has a whole new set of questions about who he is and what he can do.

Craig's series continues with the fourth installment, Jimmy Coates: Sabotage. Here, Jimmy continues his attempt to outwit the powers in charge of NJ7, even while fulfilling a dangerous mission that requires the stealth and invisibility of someone who, at least officially, does not exist. Jimmy returns yet again in book five, Jimmy Coates: Survival, when the stakes go up even higher. Not only must Jimmy prevent a war, but now his family is in danger as well.

Despite the success of the "Jimmy Coates" series, Craig remains interested in music and songwriting; he intends to continue to write songs and produce albums, even as he sends Jimmy off on more adventures. He performs his music periodically at various venues in the London area.

Craig told CA: "Anybody can write a great story. There's no magic about it. You don't have to wait for inspiration. Nobody even really knows what ‘inspiration’ is. If you start with the hard work, the inspiration will follow. Or it won't—it doesn't matter. Working hard, using every scrap of your brain, and giving yourself the time and space to create something you care passionately about—that's enough.

"After several weeks of planning, I write 2,000 words a day until the first draft is finished, then I go back to the beginning for the rewriting, polishing, and editing. I've always liked what Anthony Trollope said: ‘Three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write.’ (But it usually takes me a lot more than three hours a day!)

"Writing is a constant battle between my instinct and my intellect. I have to keep the two apart. First I have to write from my gut, not analysing anything and not worrying about how good it is. Then only when the first draft is finished do I go back and switch on the rational, critical part of my brain to rewrite.

"My aim is to make my books as gripping as they can possibly be! I love the feeling of not being able to put a book down."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Jimmy Coates: Assassin?, p. 1542; June 1, 2007, Todd Morning, review of Jimmy Coates: Target, p. 72.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2007, review of Target, p. 71.

Kliatt, March, 2007, Paula Rohrlick, review of Target, p. 10.

School Library Journal, June, 2005, Hillias J. Martin, review of Assassin?, p. 153.

Times Educational Supplement, April 21, 2006, "Destroy after Reading," p. 32.

Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 2005, James Blasingame, review of Assassin?, p. 232; February, 2007, Jeff Mann, review of Target, p. 538.

ONLINE

Bookbag,http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/ (January 7, 2008), Jill Murphy, review of Jimmy Coates: Revenge.

Edge of the Forest,http://www.theedgeoftheforest.com/ (January 7, 2008), Camille Powell, interview with Joe Craig.

Families Online,http://www.familiesonline.co.uk/ (February 26, 2007), Jo Rogers, review of Jimmy Coates series.

HarperCollins Children's Books Web site,http://www.harpercollinschildrensbooks.co.uk/ (January 7, 2008), interview with Joe Craig.

Joe Craig Home Page,http://www.joecraig.co.uk (January 7, 2008).

Joe Craig MySpace Page,http://www.myspace.com/joecraiguk (January 7, 2008).

MyShelf.com,http://www.myshelf.com/ (January 7, 2008), review of Target.

Teens Read Too,http://www.teensreadtoo.com/ (January 7, 2008), interview with Joe Craig.

University of Bolton Web site,http://www.bolton.ac.uk/ (June 19, 2006), "Joe Craig Wins Book Award."