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| Photo credit: Anne-Cecile Esteve |
Tricky, because I’m pretty open about stuff, especially when I drink red wine. Okay here we go – when I was about ten I stole a book from a library. That book was ‘Catcher In The Rye’.
2. Do you have a nickname?
Gwynnie! My seven siblings and I were at my mother’s eightieth birthday and somebody said ‘Gwynnie?’ Eight heads swiveled around – ‘Yes?’
I like people calling me Gwynnie, but they have to earn it – you can’t meet me on day and then next day start calling me that!
3. What is your greatest fear?
Single line spacing! Seriously, if I ever get a document that has single line spacing, I freak out and immediately have to change it to 1.5 spacing. I’m not that keen on confined spaces either – the worst night of my night was when some English friends(?) took me caving and I spent several hours crawling through tunnels that had a diameter less than mine. (Editors note: True to his word, Phillip submitted his answers to our questions in 1.5 spacing, but the post automatically formats to single line spacing when we publish it. Sorry Phillip.)
4. Can you describe your writing style for us in ten words?
Sparse.
5. What are five positive words that describe you as a writer?
Edgy. Funny. Rude. Moral. Fair.
6. If you could be any book character, what character would you be and why?
Alice, as in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. She had a tough time but she sure got to meet some interesting types.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
1930, to see Bradman score a triple century in a day against the Poms.
8. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
What in the hell happened to our hair? So we go through it (i.e. childhood) okay, eh?
9. Who is your greatest influence?
The writer I just read this morning. Which is actually a bit of an issue, and why I don’t read fiction when I’m writing it myself.
10. What or who made you start writing?
I was born a writer, but just spent 38 years in denial. So it was only when I stopped denying that I allowed myself to become what I always was. If that makes sense.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Phlegmatic. I love the way it starts of like green snot, but ends up nothing like green snot.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
What a terrible, terrible thing to do to a reader! Alice in Wonderland. Or Tom Sawyer. Or The Great Gatsby… Okay, I totally cheated.
The sixth and final book in Phillip Gwynne's action-packed middle fiction thriller series The Debt has recently been published by Allen & Unwin (released December 2013). You can find out more at The Debt website. In addition to The Debt (read KBR's review of The Debt #1: Catch the Zolt here), Phillip has written several picture books including Little Piggy's Got No Moves (KBR review here), What's Wrong with the Wobbegong (KBR review here) and The Queen with the Wobbly Bottom (KBR review here).
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