The Author Hotline
is
being developed by CW4K, or Creative Writing 4 Kids. They are the company behind a website that enables children to create and publish their own stories online. In its first year it has signed up over 2000 members and has been enthusiastically received by children, parents and teachers. In fact the response has been so encouraging that they are planning a huge expansion of its services. Embedding The Author Hotline into the site is part of that expansion...
For more information on CW4K CLICK HERE
Q: What were you like at school?
I was not an attentive pupil and left school at fifteen years old with no qualifications. But I came to regret it, of course, and later studied engineering and Englich Literature and Economics.
Q: What did you want to be when you were a child?
I really with I could answer this one with something fascinating, but I simply did not think in that way about the future. I suppose I was always ready to accept that I'd be a truck driver or something, like my dad.
Q: Which three words describe you best?
Intelligent Tenacious Fit
Q: What is your favourite word?
Scribble - it's one of those words that the more you say it, the more strange and meaningless it sounds.
Q: What makes you cringe?
Chewing silver foil - I've only tried it once, that was more than enough.
Q: What are you afraid of?
Jellyfish. My wife Jakki and I were stung swimming in Spain a couple of years ago. It hurts!!!!!
Q: When did you last have a really good laugh?
I laugh a lot when I'm with my three year old granddaughter - the things she says are so funny and beautiful at the same time.
Q: What is your most treasured possession?
The silver pencil my son Robert bought for me on Christmas. I've written about nine books with it.
Q: What do you do as a hobby?
I keep fit. Gym training, running, cycling, playing squash.
Q: What strange habits do you have?
I shave all my body hair every day.
Q: What’s your favourite food?
Fish. Mackerel in particular, baked.
Q: What do you day dream about?
Oh, millions of things. It's essential for a writer to dream and to imagine all kinds of things, from the microscopically small to the universally large.
Q: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve done?
What a question! I have done outrageous things, but I'm not to sure I should be writing about them here.
Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
To be a scientist - a physicist, to be precise.
Q: Do you feel younger or older than your current age?
Younger, MUCH!
Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
Albert Eistein.
Q: What quality do you most admire in a person?
Intelligence.
Q: What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?
I love travelling abroad - my wife Jakki and I spent a whole month in June 2009 camping in Fance and Spain. But the place I love most, the most beautiful and fascinating is the coast of Cornwall.
Q: What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Avoid negative people.
Q: What would you most like to change about yourself?
My temper.
Q: What has life taught you?
That to truly appreciate happiness, it's essential to have experienced great sorrow.
Q: How long have you been a writer?
My 13th book comes out in 2010, which means I've been published for 13 years. But I suppose I've been writing seriously for 18 years or so.
Q: Was there a specific moment in your life when you decide to become a writer?
There must be, I suppose, but I can't remember when it was. I just know that as soon as the idea was lodged in me, I couldn't get rid of it.
Q: Where do you do your writing?
Either at home at the dining table, or in the coffee house in my nearest town.
Q: What are the best and worst things about being an author?
Best thing is that my time is my own to arrange as I will. The worst thing is the anxiety involved with trying to get new project off the ground.
Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?
Science. I use aspects of modern science and technology as the basis around which to construct a story.
Q: Which of your own characters do you most identify with?
Blake, in my book LEGEND, published last year. He is a lot like me, when I was younger.
Q: What do you do to combat “writers’ block”?
I've never experienced it. I write every day, unless I'm too tired or ill, which is hardly ever.
Q: What was your favourite book as a child?
The Dr Dolittle series. I loved them.
Q: What book do you wish you had written?
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Be ready for a rough time. It's going to be difficult enough getting published in the first place, and then your first book will probably not do all that well. It's a tougher life than most people think, being a writer.
Legend
ISBN
9781842557181
Published By
Orion
Status
In Print
The Rule of Claw
ISBN
9781842556214
Published By
Orion
Status
In Print
City of Screams
ISBN
9781842556900
Published By
Orion
Status
In Print
Rhino Boy
ISBN
9781858817972
Published By
Orion
Status
In Print