Jackie Morris

Q: What were you like at school?

Sad. I wasn't really very happy at school, have always hated uniforms, didn't like the crowds and when people told me that school days were the happiest of your life then I would despair. For those who feel the same as me, worry not, endure and know that school days are NOT the happiest of your life.

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

I wanted to be an artist.

Q: Which three words describe you best?

Determined, imaginative, independent.

Q: What is your favourite word?

Chocolate, paint, wing, feather. Cat, bear, fur, solstice.

Q: What makes you cringe?

Usually something that has just come out of my mouth in the shape of words before I have engaged my brain.

Q: What are you afraid of?

Tanks, darleks ( which are like tanks with brains), failure.

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

Not saying.

Q: What is your most treasured possession?

There is nothing that I own that I couldn't live without. Things that are dearest to me are not possessions, but friends, family, cats and dogs. Thinking as hard as I can, all I can come up with is my paints and brushes, which I don't even like other people touching.

Q: What do you do as a hobby?

A hobby is a bird of prey. All of the things that I do to spend my time are tied up with my work. I draw, I paint, I walk and write. I love to cook. Maybe that is a hobby. I used to be enraged when people would say how lovely it must be to make a living out of your hobby!

Q: What strange habits do you have?

I suck my paint brushes.

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Chocolate

Q: What do you day dream about?

Angels, flying, dragons, dancing with bears, running with wolves, galloping on the back of a great white bear, pirates and castles and deep dark woods, wishing for wings, mermaids and sea witches to name but a few things.

Q: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve done?

I couldn't possibly say. Maybe that is because I have yet to do it.

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

None

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

Usually younger.

Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

Barti Ddu, pirate of the Golden Age of piracy (dead) Shakespeare (William) Mr Spock (fictional) Peter Pan (beautiful)

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

honesty

Q: What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?

The Worldwide Web

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

It is good to be able to look in the mirror every day and like yourself, not the way you look, but the way you are. You have to work hard to be happy.

Q: What would you most like to change about yourself?

I would like to be able to wind back the clock and be younger but keep all the knowledge and confidence that I have gained through living through the time that I have already spent.

Q: What has life taught you?

That it is too short.

Q: How long have you been a writer?

Only about 8 years but I have illustrated for 25 or so

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

When I realised I would get twice as much money if I wrote and illustrated and when I found that I could.

Q: Where do you do your writing?

Usually on top of the hill behind the house where I live. Sometimes on the beach. Always just before Ig to sleep.

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

Hearing when people have enjoyed your books, or when a child has your book tucked under their pillow at night because it is their favorite, or that somehow what you have written has helped someone get through a dark time in their life. Bad things, being let down by publishers and taken for granted.

Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?

Ideas can come from the strangest of places.

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

Not really any of them. My work isn't really like that. Though I do love the leopard in The Snow Leopard.

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

Paint.

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

Call of the Wild by Jack London. My Friend Flicka.

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

The one I am struggling to find the words for now.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Write. Even if it is only a few words every day, just take some time to gather them together and write them. And believe in yourself, your voice. And be brave, because you will have to, because every time you put a book out there you are hanging your heart out for the world to see and hoping that it will understand.