1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
I used to be able to dance a can-can and stand on my head. Never could do the splits, though.
2. What is your nickname?
My sister calls me Fred, but that’s about it.
3. What is your greatest fear?
Loss, I think. Loss of people, of self and of my own confidence in myself.
4. Describe your writing style in ten words.
I write fluently and can be long-winded. Then I edit.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Fluent, industrious, versatile, imaginative, busy.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
I’m Mara Payne from In Mara’s Case… or rather, she is me - the way I would have been if I’d been single in my late twenties.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I’d like to go back to 1970, and ask my grandmother and my aunt things that have gone from humankind.
8. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
“Your ears still stick out? Don’t you care?”
And I’d say, “Not a bit.”
9. Who is your greatest influence?
Diana Wynne Jones in the writing field. Genetically, probably my eccentric grandmother.
10. What/who made you start writing?
I think it was inborn, however, my parents, grandmother and sister read to me a lot. My sister and I played pretend games which I now recognise as oral writing… we made up stories as we walked, rowed or rode around the farm.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Indubitably. Don’t know why.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Howl’s Moving Castle, maybe – or Replay. Or Deep Secret. Or even Fire and Hemlock. It would have to be a book with complexities to ponder and a style I love.
Learn more about Sally and her books at www.sallyodgers.com - and make sure you follow Sally on tour!
1 Sept
Spinning Pearls
3 Sept
Writing for Children with Peter Taylor
7 Sept
From Hook to Book with Chris Bell
8 Sept
Kids Book Review with Tania McCartney
12 Sept
Reading and Writing with Dale Harcombe
18 Sept
School Magazine with Jackie Hosking
23 Sept
Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie Parnell
2 Oct
Under the Apple Tree with Angela Sunde