Hah, not so simple for me J I’m sticking with the Girl Friday moniker for now because I’m an international woman of mystery. Okay, to tell the truth, because when (hopefully!) I get published, I intend to use a pen name for various reasons, but I haven’t settled on one yet. So there’s not much point me putting my real name out there. I’m English and I write for children.
Could you tell us a little bit about your work in progress?
I'm currently polishing my Upper MG novel set in Victorian London. It's the tale of a 13-year-old orphan girl and involves tunnels, scientists, the Crimean War, monkeys, evil politicians, inventors and a touch of magic realism.
What is the first story you remember writing? What was it about?
When I was small, I made a comic about a girl detective and got my Dad to print copies in his office. It was terrible, I’m hopeless at drawing.
Are you more of a “plotter” or a “pantser”?
I’m a plotter, I don’t know how pantsers do it! I write the first couple of chapters in a burst of creativity, but then I need to sit down and work out where the story’s going and if it’s enough to sustain a novel. I guess it’s because I write adventure tales for kids, which are very plot-focused.
All writers need encouragement. Who first encouraged you to write, and who is it that encourages you today?
I don’t think anyone ‘first’ encouraged me to write. But now that I’ve started I’ve had lots of support from family and friends.
Which authors have had a significant influence on your writing?
I read widely and I’ve been inspired by everyone from Alice Walker, Tolstoy and Ovid to Philip Pullman and JK Rowling. But I don’t think there’s any one author who’s had a ‘significant’ influence. I was actually motivated to write my first novel after reading a bestselling adult thriller that I thought was awful - I thought ‘I can do better than that!’ Whether I can remains to be seen J
What music, if any, do you enjoy listening to while you write?
I enjoy all kinds of music, but I can’t listen to it when I write, it distracts me. But I love the birds that sing outside my window J
What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a writer?
I’m still new to all this so I’m sure I have dozens of weaknesses that I don’t even know about yet! I definitely find plotting and structure hard at times. As for strengths, I think I have a good ear for cadence, and I find writing action scenes fun and easy so hopefully they read that way.
What do you hope to achieve with your writing?
To get published, and for children to read my books and really enjoy them. That’s the main thing, isn’t it?
What was once traditionally a print medium is now rapidly branching out into many digital formats. What do you think of this trend?
Personally I love ‘real’ books, but I can see the pros of Kindles, though I don’t plan to get one. I think one of the possible pros of e-readers is that it might get men to read more. Boys read less, but they love gadgetry!
What was the last sentence that you had to re-read over and over again because of its awesomeness? What struck you about it?
I read Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines recently and thought the first sentence was brilliant: ‘It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.’ I mean, wow. So much invention and intrigue and world-building all wrapped up in one sentence.
What book(s) have you recently read that you would recommend to the readers of this blog?
Diary of a Provincial Lady, which is a very witty novel written in the ‘30s. And some excellent writing books: Nancy Lamb’s Crafting Stories For Children and Joan Aiken’s The Way To Write For Children, plus children’s novels Mortal Engines and Eva Ibbotson’s Which Witch?
What advice do you have to other aspiring authors out there?
Read as many writer’s and agent’s blogs, and writing craft books as you can; also read scads of novels in your genre and dissect what works for you and what doesn‘t. That’s what I’ve been doing and I’ve learned so much.
An apocalypse destroys the entirety of human literature, apart from the work of three authors that you can magically save with your wizardry – what do you save from imminent destruction?
Well, obviously Shakespeare’s works. After that… ugh, I can’t choose, there’s too many! So I guess I‘d sidestep novels and go for a history of the world. And finally all the Calvin and Hobbes books, because Bill Watterson is a genius and after an apocalypse I think we’ll need a bit of light relief
Our time is at an end. For our curious readers, how can we follow your progress?
Please come and say hello at my blog: http://readingwritingandribaldry.blogspot.com/ or on Twitter: @Girl___Friday (three underscores) I love meeting other writers!
***Are you an aspiring author willing to do an interview for my little blog? If so, click here.***
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