I can tap dance.
2. What is your nickname?
My family call me Carol.
3. What is your greatest fear?
Being on a reality TV show. And being in a plane that’s about to crash. They hold equal fear for me.
4. Describe your writing style in ten words.
Poetic, rhythmical, succinct, generally typo-free, to be read out loud.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Persistent, pedantic, courageous, entertaining, diverse.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
The Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher. I love her style, confidence, independence and her ability to sort through the rot in an exciting, adventurous way.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
That is a really difficult question to answer – what significant moment in history would I like to be a part of? What terrible event would I stop occurring? Would I simply go back a few weeks and choose the correct Oz Lotto numbers (which if I’m honest, is what I’d really like to do)? But if I had to do something to feed my soul, I would travel back to 1508 and watch Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel.
8. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
“Do I really end up living back at Carrathool?
9. Who is your greatest influence?
My sister and my children. My sister is very wise and my children rely on me to lead them to adulthood – the choices I make are largely determined by how those choices will affect my children.
10. What/who made you start writing?
I have always loved stories – as a child I would make up stories to entertain my family – I’d use different accents for the different characters. We had a Scottish couple move to our local village and their accents fascinated me. But what fascinated me more was the gentleman had a tattoo of a naked girl on his arm. I wanted to know the story behind it, which I have actually forgotten because whatever it was, I thought I could come up with something a bit more exciting. And I did – years later I put him and his tattoo in a short story – I turned him into a vicar. I have always loved that stories can take you to so many different places with so many different characters – both on paper and in real life.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
My family would say it’s ‘unbelievable’ because I use it so much – especially if happening upon one of those reality shows on the TV. But I love the word ‘congratulations’ – it’s usually the precursor to good news.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
From a practical point it would be a rhyming dictionary! For entertainment it would be any of Kerry Greenwood’s Miss Fisher stories, or an Agatha Christie murder mystery or Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. But it’s a terrible thought – only one book would be awful. I need shelves of the things.
Caroline Tuohey is an Australian author who enjoys writing children's poems and stories as well as writing and performing bush poetry. Her picture books include Climb, illustrated by Emma Stuart, and her latest story, Forest Wonder, illustrated by Muza Ulasowski. Visit Caroline's website for more information about her books and author events.