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 loved everything about primary school and I was incredibly enthusiastic - and as far as I remember, I was a model pupil! I loathed everything about secondary school except my friends and I was always in trouble. I was frequently told I wouldn't amount to anything!
Q: What did you want to be when you were a child?
A gardener, a footballer, a teacher, a writer... but not all at the same time.
Q: Which three words describe you best?
Nosey, determined, loyal
Q: What is your favourite word?
Serendipity
Q: What is your most treasured possession?
My photograph album
Q: What are you afraid of?
Losing my senses - and my glasses
Q: What do you do as a hobby?
Travel, sing, read, take photographs, yoga, knit, watch football, go to the theatre - ballet, musicals, plays - Scrabble
Q: What’s your favourite food?
Chocolate
Q: What do you day dream about?
Whatever and whoever I'm writing and reading about, hot air balloons, tropical beaches
Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
Garden designer, premiership footballer
Q: Do you feel younger or older than your current age?
Years and years younger - until I try to run
Q: What quality do you most admire in a person?
Compassion
Q: What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?
Kawambwa in Luapula Province, Zambia, where I had my first ever job as a teacher
Q: What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Paddle your own canoe
Q: What has life taught you?
People are much more important than possessions
Q: What makes you cringe?
Fingernails scratching a blackboard, cracking knuckles
Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
My father - who I never knew
Q: When did you last have a really good laugh?
This morning when I had a look in the mirror
Q: How long have you been a writer?
I have written poems, songs and stories ever since I was a child
Q: Where do you do your writing?
On the sofa, in bed, in the library, on the living room table, park benches, on the bus, on the train... and very occasionally, sitting at my desk
Q: What are the best and worst things about being an author?
I love being an author. It is one of the best jobs in the world. Imagining things, making things up, pretending, day-dreaming, lying - and not having to get up at the same time each day to catch a train
Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?
I grab them wherever I can find them - sometimes real life, sometimes dreams
Q: What was your favourite book as a child?
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Don't give up. Read lots and write every day. Have fun. Enjoy. "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Goethe
Q: What do you do to combat “writers’ block”?
I don't really get writers' block but if I want a break from writing, I draw or paint and make things
Q: Was there a specific moment in your life when you decide to become a writer?
I decided to try and become a professional writer as soon as I realised it was something that ordinary people could do
Q: What book do you wish you had written?
I don't wish I had written these books but I enjoyed reading them and I do admire them: A Nest of Vipers by Catherine Johnson, The Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray, Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine, Holes by Louis Sachar, Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman... oh and so many more!
Baby Ruby Bawled
ISBN
184853017X
Published By
Tamarind/Random House
Status
In Print
Spike and Ali Enson
ISBN
1848530234
Published By
Tamarind/Random House
Status
In Print
Miss Bubble's Troubles
ISBN
1848530242
Published By
Tamarind/Random House
Status
In Print
Getting Bigger
ISBN
9780748785704
Published By
Nelson Thornes
Status
In Print
Dad Alert!
ISBN
1841215457
Status
Out of Print
Operation X
ISBN
1860395554
Status
Out of Print
Man Hunt
ISBN
1860392326
Status
Out of Print
Man Hunt
ISBN
0003303225
Published By
Collins Educational
Status
In Print
Skin Deep
ISBN
1848530544
Published By
Tamarind/Random House
Status
In Print