I am a huge MasterChef fan. Can’t get enough of it. I love the quest for excellence and getting to know each contestant’s story.
2. What is your nickname?
2. What is your nickname?
Al
3. What is your greatest fear?
3. What is your greatest fear?
I never utter my greatest fear in case a super-villain is listening.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Suspenseful, intriguing, action-packed, slyly funny, many layered, historically accurate.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Curious, experienced, intrepid, bold, joyful.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
6. What book character would you be, and why?
I would be Anne of Green Gables: red hair, sassy and a bit of a daydreamer.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I would go to the future to see what happens - at least 2100.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
What happened to the Snoopy Club? The Snoopy Club was devoted to hunting out adventures and all things Snoopy. My best friend at the time and I were the only two members, and I still have the homemade membership card.
9. Who is your greatest influence?
9. Who is your greatest influence?
My mother. She read to me from day one and passed on her love of books and story to me. I also inherited her tenacity – possibly the most important quality required for the writing life.
10. What/who made you start writing?
10. What/who made you start writing?
I think it was a combination of being good at English in school, encouragement from my teachers, and the sense of ‘rightness’ and fulfilment I got whenever I wrote something. Even after 25 years of writing, I still get a wonderful feeling of joy and excitement when I am in the thick of creating a story. Of course, it can be hard and frustrating too, but underneath that is always a kernel of joy and excitement.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
11. What is your favourite word and why?
I have so many favourite words! I’m writing the Lady Helen books set in 1812 (the Regency era) at the moment and the language used in that period is so wonderful. Some of my favourite Regency words are prodigious, Lud, hoyden and clunch.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Absolute hell! But if I had to choose, it would be Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It combines every genre I love to read: speculative fiction, well-researched historical drama, action thriller and romance.
Alison Goodman is the author of six novels, including her latest, Lady Helen and the Dark Days Pact, the second in her Regency supernatural trilogy, and EON and EONA, a New York Times bestselling fantasy duology that has sold in 20 countries and been translated into 12 languages. For more information, see www.darkdaysclub.com.
