Don’t think you have to write a novel first off.About half the time I spend writing a book is spent rewriting. It wasn’t until I had a go that I realised writing for kids suited me perfectly. I was trying to write for adults when someone suggested I try writing for kids. I didn’t decide to be a children’s writer straight away. Try different types of stories - adventure stories, scary stories, historical stories, true stories.Every writer has their own way of writing. I think it’s terrific that so many kids are keen writers. I can only come to your school if a teacher invites me. I’ve been to schools in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston and Brisbane. If I am interstate, I sometimes visit some schools while I’m there. Most of the schools I visit are in and around Melbourne, where I live. I spend most of my working days writing, but I do make some school visits each year. While I was writing the Dragonkeeper series, I particularly avoided reading other books about dragons! My favourite book that kids’ might have read is definitely Lord of the Rings. I worry about picking up ideas without realising it. My favourite books in the whole world are Possession by A S Byatt, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. What is your favourite book by someone else? However, Dragonkeeper has been my most successful book, winning awards and being published in 14 or so different countries to date. It’s hard work bringing every one of them into the world. What is your favourite book that you have written?īooks are like children. I don’t need to make a Dragonkeeper movie, as someone else is doing it! It is an animation and is being made right now! I don’t know when it will be finished. Why don’t you make a movie out of Dragonkeeper? And don’t forget to read the comments from readers too. Also you could read the blog I wrote about this. Read the second Dragonkeeper trilogy! Blood Brothers, Shadow Sister and (soon) Bronze Bird Tower. What can I read now that I’ve finished the Dragonkeeper trilogy? So I used that as the beginning of my Chinese dragon story. I thought that was the most amazing little story I’d ever heard. To get rid of the evidence, the man chopped up the dead dragon and made pickle out of it. The man who was supposed to look after them didn’t know how to care for dragons and one died. In it was a very short story about an emperor who had two pairs of dragons. I found a translation of the book at a library. I was reading about dragon mythology in China and I came across a reference to a 2000-year-old Chinese history book. I knew I wanted to write a story about a Chinese dragon. When I’m looking for ideas for a new book, I read through them to see if there’s anything What gave you the idea for Dragonkeeper? I write all these ideas down in a notebook. Sometimes ideas just pop into my head (not very often) and I don’t know where they’ve come from. I get a lot of inspiration from history books. It might be a conversation I overhear on a tram, or a person I see when I’m out walking the dog. This is one of the questions I get asked most and it’s a hard one. But who knows? Where do you get your inspiration? I think this is the last Dragonkeeper book. The final book in the second Dragonkeeper trilogy was published in March 2017. My hobbies are reading, gardening and family history. After that I went to RMIT where I did an Associate Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing. I majored in creative writing and Chinese language. When I decided I wanted to become a writer, I did an Arts Degree at Victoria College (which later merged with Deakin University). Her name is Ginger, and she is a schnoodle. (I’m not telling you my birthday.) My family emigrated to South Australia in 1963 when I was 12 years old. Frequently asked questions Can you give me some personal information about yourself?
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