Close up magic. I love doing magic tricks and used to be a close-up magician (it feels like a long time ago now…), but I still get a little thrill every time I hold a deck of cards.
2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?
The Grinch. What a guy. He steals Christmas! That shows real effort and initiative. And like all good villains, we come to realise that he probably isn’t such a bad guy after all.
3. You're hosting a literary dinner party, which five authors would you invite? (alive or dead)
Ooooh. Roddy Doyle, Astrid Lindgren, Roald Dahl, Siobhan Dowd, and Fredrik Backman. But there are so many more I would want to invite! And a dinner party isn’t really a dinner party with only 6, is it?
4. Which literary invention do you wish was real?
The bed knob from The Magic Bed Knob by Mary Norton (the story which the Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks was later based on). As a kid, I always used to test out any bed knobs I came across. Truth be told, I still do…
5. What are five words that describe your writing process?
Procrastination; walking; daydreaming; reading; word-hunting.
6. Which are the five words you would like to be remembered by as a writer?
I’ve a story to tell…
7. Picture your favourite writing space. What are five objects you would find there?
Books, a bird made from cogs, a brass armadillo, notepads, and a comfy chair.
8. Grab the nearest book, open it to page 22 and look for the second word in the first sentence. Now, write a line that starts with that word. (Please include the name of the book!)
(Winnie the Pooh – A. A. Milne. Word: Bear)
Bear stopped at the edge of the wild, one paw raised, his nose tasting the stories on the wind, remembering.
9. If you could ask one author one question, what would the question be and who would you ask?
Me. What happens next, and how do I write that?!
10. Which would you rather do: 'Never write another story or never read another book'?
Well, I would have to say, never write another story, because I can not write without reading. (And anyway, I could always buy some voice recognition software, and dictate a story instead…)
Zana Fraillon is an Australian children's author whose work includes the middle fiction novel No Stars to Wish On. Her latest book is The Bone Sparrow, published by Hachette. Visit Zana's website and follow her on Twitter (@ZanaFraillon) for the latest updates on her books and author events.