At one point in my life I had six grandmothers. I have one of those families that is crazy and complicated and veeerrrry extended. But I love it just the way it is, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
2. What is your nickname?
Well … sometimes my family call me 'B'. My dad used to call me ‘Buggyboo’ but that’s not really a nickname, more a pet name. I always wanted a nickname though. I wanted one so badly I tried to invent one for myself once. 'Hey everyone, you can call me "The Bean" from now on okay?' Unfortunately it never really caught on. A kid in Year 2 once called me ‘Baloney Stupid’. It’s the closest thing I ever got to a nickname so I put it on the back of my school leavers' jumper in Year 12.
3. What is your greatest fear?
Oh, it’s much too terrifying to say out loud!
4. Describe your writing style in ten words.
A mixture of truth and imagination. Always from the heart.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Sensitive, imaginative, hopeful, funny and thoughtful.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
Hermione Granger! She’s the smartest witch around, she gets to live in the Wizarding World and she invents her own magic spells.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
Probably some time in the mid to late Jurrassic period — but only if I was in some kind of protective bubble. I want to see dinosaurs, but I’m not sure I’d like them to see me!
8. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
Probably something obnoxious and rude like, 'You’re me? Oh yeah, suuure …'
9. Who is your greatest influence?
I don’t think I have one ‘greatest’ influence. I have so many things that inspire me and make me think, and so many people I learn things from.
10. What/who made you start writing?
A long train ride to school and back each day made me start writing. I decided it was a fun way to pass the time. I started keeping journals all about the things I saw, thought about, and imagined on the way to school. When my English teachers read my journals, they were very supportive. They suggested I might be interested in becoming a writer. That was the first time I had ever really thought of it.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
I’m the worst person for these questions! I’m not sure I have one best or favourite of anything! … I like words that you can feel as you say them, words like umber, gloaming, betwixed, luminescent, chide. I love onomatopoeia! Words like flash, shimmer, crackle and zip!
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A dictionary. It’d give me all the words and ideas I’d ever need to make my own stories!
Briony's latest book, Here in the Garden, is available now in bookstores and online; UQP, $24.95 RRP.
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