Dee Shulman

Q: What were you like at school?

Mostly happy

Q: What did you want to be when you were a child?

A teacher, a mother, a writer, an artist, an actor

Q: What is your favourite word?

Sparkly

Q: What makes you cringe?

Unelected politicians

Q: What are you afraid of?

The dark

Q: When did you last have a really good laugh?

About 10 minutes ago

Q: What is your most treasured possession?

I try not to treasure things - they usually get lost!

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Cherry Garcia ice-cream

Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

Acting

Q: Do you feel younger or older than your current age?

At the moment I am about 11

Q: What quality do you most admire in a person?

Courage

Q: What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?

Forgive yourself every evening for things you didn't do right in the day

Q: What has life taught you?

Love is the key

Q: How long have you been a writer?

I have been writing stories since I was about 6

Q: Was there a specific moment in your life when you decide to become a writer?

Not really - I wrote my first children's book when my daughter was 2, and it just carried on from there.

Q: Where do you do your writing?

Mostly in my studio - but I carry a notebook around with me - and I will write down ideas wherever I am.

Q: What are the best and worst things about being an author?

The peace... The silence.

Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?

My kids

Q: Which of your own characters do you most identify with?

Polly Price

Q: What do you do to combat “writers’ block”?

Eat, make coffee, clean the kitchen floor, go for a run, trawl the internet (obviously for research!) eat, make tea, go on youtube (obviously for research)...eat, make hot chocolate etc etc These displacements are much worse at the beginning of a book...

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis)

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

There are LOADS! Obviously The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis) Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) Atonement (Ian McEwen) Music and Silence (Rose Tremain) Hamlet, (W Shakespeare) Matilda (R Dahl) My name is Asher Lev (Potok) .... this is turning into another displacement activity

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

MINIMISE DISTRACTIONS!!!!