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?
Noisy. Good at English. Really really bad at Maths.
Q: What did you want to be when you were a child?
A top showjumper; but I only had a fat, bad tempered pony, so there wasn't much chance of that!
Q: Which three words describe you best?
Smiley, tall, enthusiastic.
Q: What is your favourite word?
Yes.
Q: What makes you cringe?
Insincerity.
Q: What are you afraid of?
Getting lost. I have no sense of direction.
Q: When did you last have a really good laugh?
Today, watching my puppy trying to catch her tail.
Q: What is your most treasured possession?
A soft toy; it is a yellow duck and was given me by my daughter when she was little. She had spent all her pocket money on it.
Q: What do you do as a hobby?
Read, sing in a choir, conduct a choir, watch films, go to the theatre and concerts, walk the dogs.
Q: What strange habits do you have?
Oh dear! Don't think I want to answer that one!
Q: What’s your favourite food?
Scallops.
Q: What do you day dream about?
I've visited lots of countries - even lived in some - but I dream about travelling to all sorts of new and exotic places.
Q: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve done?
Pretended I was someone else - with peculiar consequences.
Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
Archaeology.
Q: Do you feel younger or older than your current age?
On a good day I feel much much younger. But then sometimes I look in the mirror first thing in the morning and can't quite believe who is staring back at me. Where did all the wrinkles come from?
Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
Queen Elizabeth the First.
Q: What quality do you most admire in a person?
Sense of fun - and honesty.
Q: What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?
The Valley of the Nobles in Luxor, Egypt.
Q: What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Be yourself and follow your dream.
Q: What would you most like to change about yourself?
I'd like to be tidier - then I wouldn't keep losing things.
Q: What has life taught you?
OOOh. A big question, that. Masses of things. Probably tolerance is the best thing life has taught me.
Q: How long have you been a writer?
Ages. My first book 'Race Against Time' was published in 1989.
Q: Was there a specific moment in your life when you decide to become a writer?
I'd always loved writing; the first book I wrote was when I was ten; it was terrible! I had to do a lot of writing in my jobs but it wasn't until I had children and was at home with them that I started writing properly.
Q: Where do you do your writing?
I have an office in my house.
Q: What are the best and worst things about being an author?
The best thing is that you are doing what you love doing, telling a story, creating characters. The worst thing is when the ideas don't come.
Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?
From all over. From articles in newspapers, from a scene on a street, from something that's happened to me, from a person I've met or from a place I've visited. Often, these ideas will be stored at the back of my mind and only come out in a story a long time later.
Q: Which of your own characters do you most identify with?
I used to live in Australia and I wrote some books there, one of which was called 'Blood Ties' about a young girl who was sent from a children's home in England to another children's home in Australia. I really identified with the pain and confusion she must have felt, leaving everything and everyone with whom she was familiar and starting a new life in a very different country.
Q: What do you do to combat “writers’ block”?
Sometimes ideas refuse to come easily but the thing to do is to keep on writing, even if it isn't flowing very well. You can always go back and edit later.
Q: What was your favourite book as a child?
I loved all the C.S. Lewis books - especially 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.'
Q: What book do you wish you had written?
Oh, lots and lots. I've just finished reading 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel. I wish I was clever enough to write like that!
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
The more you write, the better you get - so follow your dream and keep on writing!
-
Mixing It
ISBN
9781845074951
Published By
Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Status
In Print -
Payback
ISBN
9781845079352
Published By
Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Status
In Print -
The Blue-eyed Aborigine
ISBN
9781847800787
Status
Coming Soon -
Blood Ties
ISBN
0141304146
Published By
Penguin Australia
Status
In Print -
Holly and the Dream Fixer
ISBN
0141300302
Status
Out of Print -
Follow That Lion
ISBN
9780141311777
Published By
Penguin Australia
Status
In Print -
Secrets and Spies
ISBN
1904936083
Published By
Mill Publishing Ltd
Status
In Print -
The Gangbusters
ISBN
1871173973
Published By
Mill Publishing Ltd
Status
In Print -
The Amazing Mr Mulch
ISBN
0521468825
Published By
Cambridge University Press
Status
In Print -
The Magic Sword
ISBN
0521468876
Published By
Cambridge University Press
Status
In Print -
The Slippery Planet
ISBN
052146885X
Published By
Cambridge University Press
Status
In Print -
The Big Shrink
ISBN
0521664543
Published By
Cambridge University Press
Status
In Print -
The Silver Fox
ISBN
0140380272
Status
Out of Print
Copyright © 2009 AuthorHotline. All rights reserved