Lucy Coats

Q: What were you like at school?

I was always the kid standing on the edge of things, looking in.

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

Anything that involved books and writing.

Q: Which three words describe you best?

Dreamy, Strong, Imaginative.

Q: What is your favourite word?

Spelunking.

Q: What makes you cringe?

Being asked if I'm the next J.K. Rowling!

Q: What are you afraid of?

Being burned alive.

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

Today, with my daughter.

Q: What is your most treasured possession?

My original copy of 'The Secret Garden' which belonged to my grandmother. It has wonderful illustrations, handcoloured and stuck onto grey matt paper, which are then protected by thin, see-through onionskin paper. The spine has fallen off, but it doesn't matter. It's a magical thing to me.

Q: What do you do as a hobby?

Read every book I can lay my hands on and cook delicious food (and experiment a lot).

Q: What strange habits do you have?

Talking to myself in the middle of the street.

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Roast chicken (organic, not nasty battery chicken) with truffles under the skin, mashed potato with LOTS of butter and cream--and crunchy just-right brussels sprouts.

Q: What do you day dream about?

Selling a million books!

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

I don't think I'd better answer that!

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

Head Chef in a tiny restaurant.

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

Waaay younger some days--and as old as the rocks on others!

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

Merlin (and yes, I do think he was a real person).

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

Courage.

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

Ladakh--a little country next to Tibet, right up in the Himalayas.

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

There is no way to happiness. Happiness IS the way.

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

My impatience.

Q: What has life taught you?

That the niceness you give out comes back to you in one way or another--and the same with nastiness!

Q: How long have you been a writer?

All my life--but professionally for 18 years.

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

On a river bank in Scotland!

Q: Where do you do your writing?

In a little office upstairs, looking out over fields of sheep, and a river.

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

Best thing is when the work is going well and getting out and meeting readers--the worst thing is when the work is going badly--and it's quite a solitary job, which sometimes gets me down.

Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?

Now that's a really annoying question. How do I know? The Story Gods send them down to me.

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

There are parts of Linnet Perry in Hootcat Hill that come from me--parts, but not all! But I guess I identify with all my characters while I'm writing them. It's the only way to get into their heads.

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

Stop writing and do something else that totally takes my mind away. Maybe something physical--maybe reading a book. Just Not Writing Till Ready does the trick, mostly.

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

Oh lord! Too many.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Read. Read some more. And then find more books and read them too. Now read again. Be inquisitive and nosy. Watch how people behave. Listen to conversations on the bus. Dream. And never let anyone tell you you can't write. If you are a writer you won't be able to NOT write--even if you have another job at the same time. Don't be afraid to try something you've never done before.