I lead a double life as a TV writer and producer. I’m presently at work on a new cooking show called The Hot Plate. I also have a couple of awesome drama ideas that I’m developing. Stay tuned!
2. Do you have a nickname and if so, what is it?
Madams. Simply because it’s a contraction of my names.
3. What is your greatest fear?
Of not living the best and fullest life possible while trying to help those closest to me do the same.
4. Can you describe your writing style for us in ten words?
Fast. Evocative. Cinematic. Emotional. Labyrinthine. Funny. Confronting. Honest. Realistic. Provocative.
5. Can you give us five positive words that describe you as a writer?
Versatile. Questing. Diligent. Passionate. Colourful.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
Johnny Smith, the tragic hero of The Dead Zone. Except I’d try to find a way to save the world, expose the bad guy and get the girl without, y’know, snuffing it.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
To the far-off future, way beyond my life span and those of everyone I know. That way I’d get to see how things turn out without fretting about when and how I was going to die, etc. It’d also mean I wouldn’t have the whole step-on-a-butterfly-and-stop-Justin-Bieber-from-being-born paradox to worry about.
8. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
Dude, you’re published, you work in TV, you live in 2015 – are you a millionaire with a hoverboard?
9. Who is your greatest influence?
Myself. Sounds stupid but I’m a product of a million influences so I’m kinda the filter through which things pass.
10. What or who made you start writing?
I loved writing stories as a kid and it was one of the things I was best at in primary and secondary school. So being able to pick up a pen and create a person or world always held a big appeal. Later, in early high school, I was very impressed by Stephen King’s ability to take ordinary people and make them pivotal to extraordinary situations. While I don’t love all of his work, I’d highly recommend his On Writing book to any aspiring author. Every time I see a copy in an op shop or garage sale, I buy it and pass it on to a friend.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Cooking.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life what would it be?
I’m going to say the dictionary. From it, everything else.
Michael Adams as an Australian journalist, screenwriter and author. His latest YA novel, The Last Place, is the third and final book in the Last trilogy, preceded by The Last Girl and The Last Shot, all published by Allen & Unwin.
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