12 Curly Questions with author Allison Tait

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.

Between my blog, my website, and my podcast, it’s hard to imagine that there’s anything that people don’t know about me, but I do still have some secrets. For instance, I have a horrible weakness for Pascall Chocolate Eclairs. To the point where I can no longer trust myself with them in the house and must avoid the confectionery aisle at the supermarket entirely.

2. What is your nickname? 

My nickname is Al. Which is why my writing name is AL Tait. My middle initial is not officially L.

3. What is your greatest fear?

Something happening to my boys.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words. 

Fast, furious, funny(ish), full of action, just like I talk.

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

Productive, generous, thoughtful, excited, clever (I use this because that’s how someone else described my writing).

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

I think I’m the loyal friend. I’m Hermione Granger. I’m Samwise Gamgee. I’m Ash from The Mapmaker Chronicles. I’m Merry, Gwyn, Scarlett and Midge from the Ateban Cipher. I’m the character that people argue about forever as to whether I was actually the hero of the story. I’m so drawn to those characters, and I love writing them so much, that I think that I must secretly be one.

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

I would go to 2050. To reassure myself that we’re all still here or, at the very least, to find out at what point it all went horribly wrong so I could come back with proof to convince our politicians about what needs to be done.

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

My 10-year-old self would have just seen The Book of Secrets in this month’s Scholastic Book Club catalogue and she would be so incredibly proud that it might actually stop her talking for five minutes. Maybe.

9. Who is your greatest influence? 

Oh gosh, I think I am the sum total of every single book I’ve ever read. And that’s thousands and thousands of books. I am influenced by every writer and every idea I’ve ever read. I think we all are.

10. What/who made you start writing? 

I wrote at school and was encouraged by two terrific high school English teachers, Miss Mizon and Mr Miller, as well as my mum and dad, but I never had any sense that I could actually be a writer. Eventually, I realised I just needed to have a crack at it. So I guess it was me who made me start writing, and that’s not a bad thing because as a writer you only have yourself to make you keep going.

11. What is your favourite word and why? 

I don’t have a favourite word. I have a fairly decent collection of words I dislike, but I don’t play favourites with the others. The right word in the right spot is my favourite at that time.

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

I have to say that this would be a bit of a nightmare as I’m not a huge re-reader of books. Having said that, I have read the Harry Potter series and The Lord Of The Rings several times each, so one of them. Maybe The Lord Of The Rings. I can watch the Harry Potter movies.

Allison Tait (AL Tait) is the bestselling author of the epic middle-grade adventure series The Mapmaker Chronicles, which is available in Australia, the US, the UK, Lithuania and Turkey. The Book of Secrets, the first book in her new Ateban Cipher series, is out now. Find out more at www.allisontait.com.