12 Curly Questions with author Elaine Harris

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you. 

I joined my first choir when I was seven.

2. What is your nickname? 

There are many but Laine is the most often used.


3. What is your greatest fear? 

Having my face covered; I am claustrophobic.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words. 

Diverse, descriptive, accessible, challenging, informative, researched, honest, part of myself.

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

Dedication, perseverance, determination, perfectionist, joy.

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

Esther Summerson, from Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. She is kind, caring, survives mistreatment with dignity and is more practical than I shall ever be.

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

Early 19th century to see what Jane Austen’s world was really like.

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

You did it! I always hoped you would!

9. Who is your greatest influence? 

My English teacher, Patricia Turner, whose flamboyant style, passion for books and vocabulary were all inspiring. 

10. What/who made you start writing? 

Writing was something I had always wanted to do, always dabbled in, but the greatest impetus was a dream (honestly) in which somehow I concluded that it would never happen unless I did something about it. I awoke literally invigorated.

11. What is your favourite word and why? Serendipity: because it’s fun, lively and onomatopoeic.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be? Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian.

Elaine Harris is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist and author with a long career in public-speaking. She writes both fiction and non-fiction. Her passion for books and gardens shines through her work. She collects dogs in fiction like other people collect stickers and lives overlooking the ocean with her teacher husband. See www.elaineharris.com.au for more information.