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 quite shy and not particularly good at anything. I did enjoy the projects we used to do at primary school and the trips we went on, especially one where we camped in an orchard.
Q: What did you want to be when you were a child?
I didn't have much idea of myself as an adult. I liked being a child.
Q: Which three words describe you best?
Mum, writer, friend
Q: What is your favourite word?
plum
Q: What makes you cringe?
Being asked to pose for a photo.
Q: What are you afraid of?
Something bad happening to the people I love.
Q: When did you last have a really good laugh?
At breakfast this morning - family banter.
Q: What is your most treasured possession?
My family.
Q: What do you do as a hobby?
Walking and talking with my dog and friends or family.
Q: What strange habits do you have?
I like to crunch ice cubes.
Q: What’s your favourite food?
It depends on what mood I'm in. But I do love a fresh boiled egg and buttered toast, especially if the egg has been laid by one of my hens.
Q: What do you day dream about?
Trying to organise my family and myself to be in particular places at particular times, and it all going wrong.
Q: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve done?
Given birth.
Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
I greatly admire good teachers, but I don't know whether I could do their job.
Q: Do you feel younger or older than your current age?
I only know what I do feel like, so I don't know what I should feel like, if you see what I mean.
Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
My lovely Daddy.
Q: What quality do you most admire in a person?
An ability to think beyond themselves.
Q: What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?
A Masai homestead in the wilds of Kenya.
Q: What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Find out what you enjoy doing, then see if there's a way that you can make a living out of doing that thing that you enjoy (in my case, writing stories).
Q: What would you most like to change about yourself?
I wish I had learnt other languages.
Q: What has life taught you?
To enjoy beauty and laughter and people and animals and places because none of it will last for ever.
Q: How long have you been a writer?
I wrote my first book seventeen years ago, only writing school work and university essays before then.
Q: Was there a specific moment in your life when you decide to become a writer?
My husband gave me the courage and the time to have a go at it, and my first story was aimed at a competition.
Q: Where do you do your writing?
Almost anywhere when it comes to jotting down notes of ideas, but my computer is in my bedroom.
Q: What are the best and worst things about being an author?
The best are - losing yourself in a story that starts to have a life of its own Seeing your story turned into a good looking book with illustrations Hearing from children who have really enjoyed your stories Enjoying being part of the community of children's book writers Being paid The worst are - if nobody wants to buy a story that you think is good.
Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?
Life
Q: Which of your own characters do you most identify with?
There's a bit of me in all of them, both the nice ones and the horrible ones. They can only come 'alive' if you, the author, know how they feel and why they feel the way they do.
Q: What do you do to combat “writers’ block”?
Just sit down and write something, even if I know that it is no good. Unlike brain surgery, when you write something you can always come back to it and make it better later.
Q: What was your favourite book as a child?
The 'Little House On The Prairie' books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved the fact that the stories in them were true.
Q: What book do you wish you had written?
'Farmer Duck' by Martin Waddell.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Read lots, and read critically so that you learn from other people's good and bad writing.
-
Rescued By A Dog Called Flow
ISBN
9781903015476
Published By
Barn Owl Books
Status
In Print -
Raven Boy
ISBN
9781846470257
Published By
Catnip Publishing
Status
In Print -
Winnie's Big Catch
ISBN
9780192728425
Published By
Oxford University Press
Status
In Print -
Winnie Says Cheese
ISBN
9780192727510
Published By
Oxford University Press
Status
In Print -
Winnie the Twit
ISBN
9780192725769
Published By
Oxford University Press
Status
In Print -
Mini Winnie
ISBN
9780192725776
Published By
Oxford University Press
Status
In Print -
Whizz-Bang Winnie
ISBN
9780192727527
Published By
Oxford University Press
Status
In Print -
Giddy-Up Winnie!
ISBN
9780192728418
Published By
Oxford University Press
Status
In Print -
You Choose
ISBN
9780552547086
Published By
Random House
Status
In Print -
What's In Store?
ISBN
9781405227612
Published By
Egmont
Status
In Print -
Three Little Ghosties
ISBN
9780747579557
Published By
Bloomsbury
Status
In Print
Copyright © 2009 AuthorHotline. All rights reserved