The Land of Nowhere

Thank you for telling me about that! It must have been quite an experience being Diana Wynne Jones's son. [Goes to google "colin burrow diana wynne jones".]

I'd assume that yes, Jones had experiences with teenage boys being sullen and self-absorbed, and she wrote that into the character of Seb, but I also think that Seb's character is so very much shaped by his experience of growing up as he did that it can't really be a portrait of one of Diana's kids. [Spoilers in ROT13]: Fro pbzrf bss nf irel hacyrnfnag xvq jura jr svefg zrrg uvz, ohg gur pbagrkg jr'er zvffvat vf gung uvf zbgure unf whfg orra fnpevsvprq gb uryy naq ur'f greevsvrq gung gur fnzr jvyy unccra gb uvz. Fb vg'f npghnyyl cerggl haqrefgnaqnoyr gung ur'f fhyxl naq frysvfu haqre gur pvephzfgnaprf. Yngre ba ur vf n greevoyr oblsevraq gb Cbyyl naq hfrf ure gb cebgrpg uvzfrys ng Gbz'f rkcrafr -- fb vg'f haqrefgnaqnoyr gung Cbyyl qbrfa'g sbetvir uvz, ohg nyfb ur unfa'g orra tebjvat hc jvgu tbbq ebyr zbqryf (V guvax Gbz vf gur pybfrfg guvat ur unq, sbe gur fubeg nzbhag bs gvzr gurl jrer sevraqyl, ohg gur jubyr gvgur guvat naq Gbz svaqvat Cbyyl qebir n jrqtr orgjrra gurz). Fb V'q xvaq bs yvxr gb frr n erqrzcgvba nep sbe Fro (jub vf bayl 23 be fb jura gur fgbel raqf), rkprcg gung gur raqvat fhttrfgf gung Fro jvyy gnxr uvf sngure'f cynpr nf Xvat/Ynhery'f Pbafbeg naq V'z abg rira fher jung unccraf gurer.

The Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones podcast is doing Fire & Hemlock next (one reason for my reread) and has had interesting things to say about the selfish/awful male characters in The Homeward Bounders and Witch Week, so I'm really looking forward to finding out what they have to say about Seb!