2. Do you have a nickname and can you tell us what it is? Once, many years ago, after the Children’s Book Council of Australia had announced the short-lists for Book of The Year, I signed a note to my family using the three letters SLG. My family sometimes still refer to me by those letters. I wonder if you can guess what they stand for?
3. Can you describe your writing style for us in ten words?
Character driven, family-focused, rhythmic, evocative, tender and rule-breaking. (Rule-breaking, because I sometimes invent words!)
4. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Painstaking, persistent, passionate, pensive and patient. (As you can probably tell, I also enjoy using alliteration.)
5. What book character would you be, and why?
Nell Silk, who is the grandmother in my Kingdom of Silk series of books. She is wise and kind, two of the best things a person can be.
6. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I’d choose a time when both my grandmas were still alive and well. They both were wise and kind.
7. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
Why didn’t you start writing books sooner?
8. Who is your greatest influence?
The people whose books I read.
9. What/who made you start writing?
My family didn’t have a television when I was growing up. Instead we read a lot of books. I think it might have been all that reading that made me want to tell stories too.
10. What is your favourite word and why?
There are many words I love saying out loud, but two of my favourites, which always go together and sound like one long word, are baba and ghanoush. These are Arabic words. You might have tasted a dip called Baba Ghanoush. Baba Ghanoush sounds so bouncy and tastes so delicious that I can’t stop saying it and eating it. Baba Ghanoush, Baba Ghanoush!
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This is a very, very curly, question! If I had to choose a book for children, it would probably be Heaven Eyes written by David Almond and for adults, perhaps it would be, The Shadow of the Wind, written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Or a poetry book ... Billy Collins or Leonard Cohen or Mary Oliver.
Glenda's newest book, with Stephen Michael King, was released by Allen & Unwin today. See our review on KBR. Learn more about Glenda at glendamillard.com.
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