I’m currently minding some green tree frogs (Skipper and Jumpy) for a young friend who’s overseas with her family. If you’re interested in seeing them, I have a “Frogwatch” photo album on my Facebook page.
2. Do you have a nickname?
I’ve been “Lad” to my oldest friends ever since I was in high school, which is so long ago now that no one can remember why!
3. What is your greatest fear?
Spiders. (Just typing that made me shudder.)
4. Can you describe your writing style for us in ten words?
Fast, thrilling, thought-provoking - surprising in a good way, Unputdownable. (Is that a word?)
5. What are five positive words that describe you as a writer?
Persistent, productive, creative, professional, adaptable.
6. If you could be any book character, what character would you be and why?
I would be Will Stanton from Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series because he woke up on his eleventh birthday with magic powers. When I turned eleven all I got was one day older. Very disappointed.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
The year 5617, to see what’s there. To see if anything’s there. I’m hopeful humanity will sort out its current problems soon, but I suppose there’ll be a whole raft of new ones before long. Lucky we’re so inventive.
8. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
“OMG you’re writing for STAR WARS!?!1?!!?”
9. Who is your greatest influence?
Garth Nix is probably my greatest influence at the moment because he’s such an amazing writer, in every sense of the word. Whether he’s always a good influence is another question. We do spend a lot of time watching old episodes of Doctor Who when we’re supposed to be working on Troubletwisters books . . . although actually that’s my fault. He’s always very well behaved.
10. What or who made you start writing?
I like to point the finger at my mother, who first got me into reading, but again it’s probably not really her fault. It’s all the wonderful authors I read when I was growing up - and there were so many of them! I was such a bookworm, never wanting to do anything else but read. People thought I was weird but to me I was normal and they were weird. It was a great way to grow up, with a head full of wonderful places and amazing people. Perhaps it was all those imaginary people that got me hooked on stories. However it happened, there’s no turning back now.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
“Verisimilitude.” It means “the appearance of truth”. That’s what I’m aspiring for every time I write.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
That’s a very difficult question to answer. Probably the book I’ve read most is Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, which was written long before even I was born. I read that book every year or so and, like all the very best things in life, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.
Sean Williams is an award-winning and best-selling author of eighty short stories and forty novels. Sean co-authors the TroubleTwisters series with Garth Nix and has recently released the first book in the Twinmaker trilogy, Jump, published by Allen & Unwin. Visit Sean's website to keep up to date with his latest book news and events.
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