My parents first thought of calling me Virginia. They settled on Sophie only when I actually appeared.
2. What is your nickname?
2. What is your nickname?
Soph.
3. What is your greatest fear?
3. What is your greatest fear?
Quoting directly from reviews: Gripping, sensitive, elegant, moving, suspenseful, compelling, magical, deft and lively.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Flexible, curious, imaginative, hardworking, passionate
6. What book character would you be, and why?
6. What book character would you be, and why?
As a fairytale-devouring child, I identified with Beauty in Beauty and the Beast, because she was quietly brave and had adventures and helped her family - and found love. As a romantic teenager, I identified with Jane Eyre, for similar reasons. Now I think many of the heroines in my books are, at heart, rather like Beauty and Jane, so I must still be identifying with that kind of character.
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?
1601/02 (no-one’s quite sure which it was) - the year Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night was written and performed. It’s my favourite Shakespeare play and has worked its way into several of my books. Beautiful, funny, sad, romantic and satirical, it’s just perfect. I would love to see it performed on its first night (January 6, the Twelfth Night) at the court, at the glittering end of Christmas festivities. Absolutely gorgeous.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
You did it, you made your dreams come true.
9. Who is your greatest influence?
9. Who is your greatest influence?
Rather, it’s ‘what’- the books I’ve read and the stories I’ve heard.
10. What/who made you start writing?
10. What/who made you start writing?
I was brought up in a family that loves words and stories. I loved reading and listening to stories and felt there just weren’t quite enough in the world. So I started scribbling down my own, at a very early age.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Life, because it contains everything.
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?
A big book of fairytales, with Twelfth Night as an insert.
Born in Indonesia to French parents and brought up in Australia and France, Sophie Masson is the award-winning author of over 60 books, for children, young adults and adults. Her latest books are the YA thriller Jack of Spades (Eagle Books, April 2017) and the picture book Once Upon An ABC, illustrated by Christopher Nielsen, (Little Hare, April 2017). For more details, see www.sophiemasson.org.
