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?
Quiet, gawky, obsessed with music and books, saved from geekdom by horse-riding.
Q: What did you want to be when you were a child?
First a train driver, then a vet (I did some work for a vet in my teens).
Q: Which three words describe you best?
Hopelessatdoing the three-worddescriptionthing.
Q: What makes you cringe?
Embarrassing moment in comedy TV programmes.
Q: What are you afraid of?
Scary people, cockchafers (a beetle).
Q: When did you last have a really good laugh?
Yesterday.
Q: What is your most treasured possession?
I have a few things, like my bike and my shaving bowl, that I bought ages ago and seem to get better with age rather than falling apart.
Q: What do you do as a hobby?
Tai Chi, kayaking, cycling when I get round to it.
Q: What strange habits do you have?
I’m not strange in any way, I’m perfectly normal. Normal, you hear?
Q: What’s your favourite food?
Pasta, if it’s perfect. Amazingly, there are quite a lot of people who can cook perfect pasta.
Q: What do you day dream about?
Being able to afford a new car.
Q: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve done?
I’m not a very outrageous person. I did once dye my hair pink, but I meant to dye it red, so I’m not sure this counts.
Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
I would like to teach Alexander Technique or Tai Chi full-time.
Q: Do you feel younger or older than your current age?
Depends on my children. One minute they say I’m immature, the next I’m an old fogey.
Q: What quality do you most admire in a person?
Does it have to be one? I admire enthusiasm, focus, persistence, compassion, generosity …
Q: What has life taught you?
Not to try and be wise about life, the universe and everything.
Q: How long have you been a writer?
About ten years, or since I was about 8, depending on how you define ‘being a writer’.
Q: Was there a specific moment in your life when you decide to become a writer?
I decided to write full-time in 2001, when the editorial job I was doing ran out of steam. I had the choice of chugging along doing the same old thing or trying to write full-time, and I decided to go for it.
Q: Where do you do your writing?
In my bedroom-cum-office.
Q: What are the best and worst things about being an author?
Make tea, go for a walk or a bike ride, do some Tai Chi.
Q: What was your favourite book as a child?
I’m embarrassed to say it was probably The Ring O’Bells Mystery by Enid Blyton. But I also liked Just William books a lot, and when I first read Dickens it blew me away.
Q: What book do you wish you had written?
The Sign On Rosie’s Door by Maurice Sendak. I would love to have done the pictures too.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Write. No excuses, Write something every day. And read lots. And don’t forget to live, too. It’s a hectic schedule.
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Rome: In Spectacular Cross-section
ISBN
978-0199112531
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Oxford University Press
Status
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Adapted for Success: Spiders and Other Invertebrates
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Sci Hi: Investigations and Inventions
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World at Risk : Climate Change
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Dance Series: African and Asian Dance
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Fusion History: How Groovy Was Your Gran: Britain from 1948 to 1968
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Oxford Reading Tree: Stage 5: Sharks
ISBN
978-0199199488
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Oxford University Press
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Stargazers' Guides : Can We Travel to the Stars? Space Flight and Space Exploration
ISBN
978-1403477118
Published By
Heinemann Library
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Your Body Inside and Out: Growing
ISBN
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The Physical Sciences: Energy
ISBN
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