Welcome To Wiskling Wood - World Building with Harriet Muncaster

By Jenni Harrison | Author Interview, Q&A

Harriet Muncaster is the best-selling author of the Isadora Moon and Victoria Stitch books. Her brand new series The Diary of Wiska Wildflower starts with 'The New School' with is out on 2nd October. She's kindly taken the time to answer our questions about her writing process, and how she comes up with her ideas.

It’s always exciting to create something new although the world that Wiska lives (Wiskling Wood) in isn’t actually new to me as I created it even before I created Isadora Moon! And it is also the backdrop for my three middle grade novels-Victoria Stitch. However, what IS new for me, is writing the book in diary format (which was SO much fun to do as you can include all sorts of little bits and bobs!) and also illustrating it in full colour which was a dream come true! Illustrating Wiska Wildflower is probably the most fun I’ve ever had while illustrating a book!

Wiska Wildflower is such a delightful new character – what was your inspiration for creating the wisklings?

Thank you so much! When it comes to the wisklings, I always wanted to create my own little world of tiny creatures as I am obsessed with miniature things! So I knew that the characters who lived in my world would definitely have to be miniature! With the world - Wiskling Wood, I basically just created my DREAM place to live! I smooshed all my favourite things together (nature, miniatures, sparkling things, miniatures, fashion, hot chocolate etc) and put the wisklings inside it! This is why I LOVE writing about Wiskling Wood so much because it is just so full of everything that I love! After writing three middle grade books about the gothic and imperious Victoria Stitch (who is also a wiskling and lives inside Wiskling Wood!) I thought it would be fun to write some books from the perspective of a different wiskling (Wiska Wildflower!) She is much more friendly and ’flowery’ than Victoria Stitch!

What made you decide to tell Wiska’s story in a diary format?

This sort of happened by accident! I had actually already written two full manuscripts for two different Wiska Wildflower stories that weren’t quite working. The common thread between them though was the Wiska was always writing and sketching inside her diary/sketchbook and so then I thought ‘what if I just wrote the book from the perspective of inside her diary?’ Something clicked and suddenly everything fell into place! I think the diary format is perfect for Wiska and it really is so much fun to do! I find the writing just flows because it really does just feel like writing in my own diary or writing to a friend!

If you could visit anywhere in Wiskling Wood, where would you go and why?

Ooh this is a fun question! I would be tempted to visit the Crystal Cave where tiny wiskling babies are born because it is extremely magical and sparkling there BUT if I only had one chance to visit somewhere in Wiskling Wood, then actually I think I would like to go swimming in the crystal clear waters of the stream and sit on the little white sandy beach there. There are lots of crystals embedded in the rocks around the stream and I’d love to see what it would be like to be smaller than the wildflowers!

I would also like to try flying on a bloom though!

Oh and also visit Spellbrooke- the capital of Wiskling Wood and go shopping in all the charming little shops there! And have a hot chocolate at Nutmeg’s Emporium!

I think this question is too difficult as I can’t decide!

How do you approach combining writing and illustration – do you write the story first, draw the illustrations, or both together?

I always design my main characters first. So I actually spent a long time just sketching Wiska when I first created her. Funnily enough, she actually stared out as a little daily sketch diary for me! She was sort of my tiny wiskling friend and I would draw her doing all the different things that I got up to each day. If I went to the beach, I drew her at the beach (maybe next to a giant shell!) If I had a hot chocolate, I would draw her peering into the ‘giant’ cup. I kept up with this for a while until I started to get the urge to write a proper story for her (which as I said above wasn’t a smooth process! It took a while to find the right idea for her!) Once I have a character established though, I will write the story and THEN go back to illustrations, once I know what I need to illustrate!

What are your favourite materials to draw with?

When I am sketching, I like a sharp pencil and then I like to put my drawings on a lightbox and ink them up with pen and ink and then use watercolour. I will often do a lot of digital ‘tweaking’ afterwards though to get the colours right and neaten things up! I have found myself sketching a bit more on my iPad lately as it’s so convenient. So, I do love using Procreate my iPad too!

When you're stuck on a story or drawing, how do you get yourself unstuck?

I think the best thing is to have a break although it’s easier said than does as my brain always wants to keep worrying at the idea to make it work. I find going on a walk often gets my brain thinking better. So I would maybe say, take a break and go on a walk! Something about doing exercise helps my brain fire a bit better creatively. Also I like to talk plots through with my husband. Sometimes other people will have a different perspective on something that you might not have thought about!

Your characters often live in richly imagined worlds – what are your tips for world-building?

Well, with Wiskling Wood, as I said above, I wanted to create my dream place to live! So I just put all my favourite things together to create Wiskling Wood! I do think that writing about things you are passionate about REALLY helps so I think I would say, with world building, think about those things that make you feel really happy and excited and fizzy inside and use them to create a world that you LOVE being in and spending time in!

Do you ever get nervous sharing your ideas? What helps you feel confident and keep going?

Whenever I create characters I always try to make them as cute and appealing as possible so that I will enjoy drawing them and writing about them. When I have a character design I love, I feel super passionate about creating worlds and stories around that character, and if I feel so super passionate about that character, then I hope at least some other people will be interested in finding out more about that character. As long as I’m creating something I absolutely LOVE, like my new Wiska Wildflower books, then that helps me to feel confident about sharing it!

What advice would you give to a young writer who wants to create their own illustrated story?

Following on from my last answer really my main tip would be to start thinking about the sort of characters and the sort of stories YOU would love to see on the page! Think about all the things that make you feel sparkly and fizzy and excited inside, and then think about what sort of characters and setting and stories would let you share those things. If you’re really passionate about what you’re creating, you’ll put a lot of effort into getting it just right, and then other people are more likely to enjoy seeing what you’ve created.

Of course, the other tip is to practise! If you want to get good at anything, you need to practise doing it a lot, and drawing and illustrating stories is no different! So: read lots, write lots and draw lots if you want to create wonderful stories!

The Diary of Wiska Wildflower - The New School is published on 2nd October 2025.