Monday 22 July 2013

Author interview - Katherine Hetzel

And here's the last of the 'Reading is Magic' authors. Look out for cheese...again!

What was your favourite book when you were a child? Difficult. I was such a bookworm, I don’t think I can pick just one. I liked Enid Blyton – but can’t remember whether it was the Secret Seven or Famous Five I liked best; I do remember a mystery involving a Siamese cat with a painted tail…The Magic Faraway Tree, The Enchanted Chair (or was it The Wishing Chair?). 

What did you want to be when you grew up? I can’t remember having any real idea until I was thirteen. I had a student teacher in Biology, who did microorganisms with us - moulds and bacteria and the like. Seeing the colonies of mould growing on agar plates made me realize I wanted a job where I could do exactly that - grow bugs!

Which children’s books have you read recently? Hollow Earth, by John and Carole Barrowman, to see if he writes as well as he sings. I think his singing’s better…Also read Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book – stunning story, with a twist at the end I really did not see coming and fab illustrations by Chris Riddell.

What’s your favourite snack? Cheese and crackers, (told you!) or a bag of Wheat Crunchies, bacon flavour.

If you could be any character in a book, who or what would you be? I’ve never thought about this…I’d have to say I'd like to be a character on Discworld, Terry Pratchett's series. I really like Vimes, the policeman, so perhaps I could be a character working with him? I'm short enough to be a dwarf - but I don't fancy having a beard...

What do you do when you’re not writing? All sorts! The nice stuff includes knitting, sewing, drawing, singing, arranging flowers, having lunch with my hubby, spending time playing games with my kids. The not-so-nice stuff is ironing, cooking, hovering, washing – everything that keeps my house and family running smoothly. 

Is there anything that scares you? Losing my teeth. I can’t even watch in cartoons when the teeth get cracked and fall out! I used to have dreams about it – I would wake with the sensation of things rattling round in my mouth, and have to check all my teeth were still there. *shivers at the memory*

What story are you working on at the moment? I have completed a full length novel, called 'Ring Seekers' which is being pitched to agents at the moment, so I am working on a collection of Granny Rainbow stories because my son wasn't content with just one story about the Black Shadow - he wanted a story for every colour of the rainbow! I have an illustrator working with me on this project, which I may self-publish. I'm also beginning to collect ideas for an historical story - all about an event that happened in my home town about 200 years ago and resulted in the demise of the Luddites. (If you don't know who they are, checkout the Horrible Histories site and find their Luddite song!)

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