12 Curly Questions with author Michelle Morgan

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.

I wrote songs before I started writing novels or plays.

2. What is your nickname?

As a child, my father used to call me Bloss – short for Blossoms in the Dust. I loved playing outdoors and was a bit of a tomboy.

3. What is your greatest fear?

Jumping out of a plane, unless I have to.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.

Gentle humour, character-driven, with pathos and drama.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.

Hard-working, sensitive, playful, imaginative, persistent.

6. What book character would you be, and why?

Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird because she’s a naïve narrator yet a perceptive observer of life; and she’s a tomboy.

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?

March 1932 to February 1933 so that I could be at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and see Sir Charles Kingsford Smith landing and taking-off in Southern Cross, on Seven Mile Beach.

8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?

What’s a computer?

9. Who is your greatest influence? 

My family.

10. What/who made you start writing? 

I love reading, drama and music, and have always felt a strong desire to write and share stories. My first piece of ‘serious’ writing was an adaptation of Oliver Twist that I wrote for the stage when I was in Year 5. I had the enthusiasm, but not the ability, to direct it as well.

11. What is your favourite word and why? 

Life – isn’t it amazing?

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

My new favourite book is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It’s beautifully written and has a compelling story and intriguing young characters.

Flying through Clouds is Michelle’s new YA novel and follows on from Racing the Moon, which was published by Allen & Unwin in 2014. Four of her plays have been performed in short-play festivals in Sydney, Newcastle and Armidale. She has also co-written several songs with her husband, Luke. For more information, see www.michellejmorgan.com.au.