I still know all the dance moves to every Spice Girls song. Even the ones that weren’t released as singles.
2. What is your nickname?
My family and friends call me Katie, but that’s not all that interesting. In high school, though, my friends called me Flameboy. It was a Friends thing. Because '90s.
3. What is your greatest fear?
The serious answer is, anything happening to my daughter. The still deadly serious answer is, slugs. I hate those creeps. They can all die in a big mountain of salt.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
A quirky little creature, made of heart, magic and peculiarity.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Gah. Writing positive stuff about myself is so hard! Persistent, dedicated, passionate, hard-working … nice?
6. What book character would you be, and why?
Oh, that’s easy – I would definitely be Mildred Hubble, from The Worst Witch. I try really hard but almost always crash into the school gates on my broomstick.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
1963. Because The Beatles.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
Write more books about witches, darnit!
9. Who is your greatest influence?
I have two big heroes in my life – my dad and my daughter. My dad, for his kindness, his humour and for his unwavering support of me and my brother throughout our lives, no matter what we do or pursue in life. And my daughter because of her quick wit and her innate magic, as well as her enormous, generous heart.
10. What/who made you start writing?
The author Steven Herrick came to talk at my small, rural Tasmanian school, when I was a teenager. He was so funny and engaging and talented and just so … human. He read us some of his work and it felt like magic, to me. He wrote beautiful, poetic stuff that still, somehow, sounded like the way kids actually talked. After his visit, I decided then and there that I was going to be a writer when I grew up. Which is probably a good thing because, up until that point, my only other idea was being a milliner and I had no idea how to sew.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Discombobulated. Mostly because I usually am.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Partly because it is completely perfect and partly because Sirius Black.
Kate Gordon grew up in North-West Tasmania. Kate has received the IBBY Ena Noel Award, was shortlisted in the Dorothy Hewett Awards, and was commended in the Vogel’s Awards. Her most recent book, Girl Running, Boy Falling (Rhiza Edge) is longlisted in the 2019 CBCA Awards. Juno Jones is her first work of junior fiction. For more information, see www.kategordon.com.au
