What makes the story so special is the friendship between Glam and Beardy. Did you draw on your own friendship as inspiration and if so, who would you say is more like Glam and who is more like Beardy?

Ra: Their friendship and dynamic is almost exactly us.

Ru: It’s incredibly obvious who is who when you meet us.

Ra: Come see us live in one of our kids’ comedy shows to see what we mean.

What was it like to write a book as a pair? Did you divide up the work, or did you write each section together?

Ru: We write one word each and just keep swapping.

Ra: It’s very time-consuming.

If you belonged to one of the five Kindoms, which one do you think you would belong to? Or what would your Kindom be, if not one of the five in the book?

Ra: I’m absolutely a Sparkle.

Ru: Would love to be a Glamour. Am a Wisdom.

Have you thought about what your familiar would be if you had one?

Ru: I think mine would be a sort of anxious hummingbird. Very fast, very scared, resting heartrate of 280.

Ra: A rhino. A physical manifestation of my big personality. Cumbersome. Difficult to bring indoors.

What do you hope readers will take away from reading Glam and Beardy?

Ru: The urge to question the restrictive rules and biased history of modern society.

Ra: And some laughs.

Ru: Yeah. Some laughs too.

And finally, without giving any spoilers to Volume I, can you give us a sneak peek into what readers can expect in Volume II?

Ra: VIOLENCE!!

Ru: No, no, there’s no violence.

Ra: What about on page 222?

Ru: Ok, there’s some violence. And mystery, intrigue, adventures to a forgotten Kindom, and a lot of fire.

Glam and Beardy: Volume I by Ruby Clyde & Rachel WD and illustrated by Vincent Batignole is out now!

Ruby Clyde and Rachel WD are also known as Shelf – a comedy double act that write and perform for adults and children. They are regular writers on series 7 of The Amazing World of Gumball (Cartoon Network) and currently have children’s fiction and television projects in development.

Shelf blends standup with elements of musical comedy and sketch. Their live shows have been cult hits at the Edinburgh Fringe, transferred to Soho Theatre, and toured internationally. As award winning children’s performers, Shelf have been resident artists at Great Ormond Street Hospital and created bespoke content for GirlGuides UK. They are founders of queer comedy collective The LOL Word.