I’ve always wanted to play the violin. I hope to learn one day.
2. What is your nickname?
Nali (pronounced like ‘gnarly, dude’).
3. What is your greatest fear?
Tsunamis!!!
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
It takes you by the hand and doesn’t let go. (That’s how one of my writing teachers described it anyway!)
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Persistent, cathartic, analytical and dialogue-driven
6. What book character would you be, and why?
Daine Sarrasri from Tamora Pierce’s Immortals series because she can speak to animals (who wouldn’t want to be able to do that?) and she has a love interest who manages to be both cool and hot at the same time.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I think it would be awesome to check out Medieval Europe. I’ve always been interested in that culture – the food, dress, the way they lived, their music. Being able to visit a year in that period seems like fun.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
Why are you writing contemporary realism when you could be writing science-fiction?
9. Who is your greatest influence?
In my personal life, my late grandfather, Ken Brunton. He was blind (following an accident at a young age) but that didn’t stop him from becoming a respected history teacher at Pulteney Grammar School in Adelaide, raising four children and being one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. In my creative life, Jane Jensen (aka Eli Easton). As a female creative kicking goals with Gabriel Knight in the early 90s, she was (and still is) such an inspiration to me. I still love reading her books today.
10. What/who made you start writing?
I started writing at such a young age that I don’t remember exactly but RL Stine, Ken Catran and John Marsden were certainly early influences. Reading exciting books is what made me want to write my own.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Deciduous. For me it immediately evokes images of beautiful orange and yellow trees in autumn.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Is it cheating if I say a notebook? So I can just write in it? There are actually a few books I can think of that would fit this category, but today I’ll go with Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn because I’ve read it about five times and will probably read it again.
Jannali Jones is an Aboriginal Australian writer of the Gunai nation. She holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Technology, Sydney. Jannali was the winner of the 2015 Black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship and was shortlisted for the 2019 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing. For more information, see www.jannalijones.weebly.com.