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Do you have a favourite author or book (or writer or film or series) that has influenced you or that you return to?
Monica Edwards was my favourite "realism" writer when I was young, and
Robert Heinlein's work roused my interest in sci fi. Geoffrey Trease's
books got me interested in history and Patricia Wrightson's in Australian
fiction. These days, Diana Wynne Jones is my role model. I love
multi-layered books with lots of hidden turnings, and that's what I try to
write. I find I can return to my favourites among her books over and over
again. I'm also very interested in selected titles by Margaret Mahy and in
one historical fantasy by Elizabeth Marie Pope; The Perilous Gard.
Who would you most like to be trapped in a lift with?
That would depend on for how long! If it were an hour or so, and we knew
we'd be rescued, my son James would be a good bet. He's restful but I like
talking to him and we have similar taste in books.
Who would you most DISlike to be trapped in a lift with?
Aside from the obvious (a claustrophobic homicidal drug-addicted maniac),
I'd have to say a smoker or someone who wears heavy perfume.
What would you pack for space? (Is there a food, beverage, book, teddy bear, etc that you couldn't do without?)
?) Tea, chocolate, Apple Isle,
Howl's Moving Castle, Hexwood, The Perilous Gard, Deep Secret... no, on
second thoughts, I'd better take my whole book collection. It might be a
long voyage! I'd also have to pack the family..
What is the most important thing you would like to get/achieve from your work?
I already earn a living from writing, but I would like more
recognition (wouldn't we all?). I'd like to get to the stage where I can
get two-or-three book contracts for novels as well as for reading scheme
work. I'd also like to be at the stage where people would cease to look
surprised when they realise the school library actually has 20 of my books
and not three, as they fondly supposed.
That aside, I'd like to develop the various strands I've begun. I'd like to
push the envelope a bit farther out in the sci fi and fantasy worlds.
What is the special satisfaction of your work?
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