In a past life I was a cicada. I lived underground for seven years. It was extremely boring. As a result, I am up for any adventure in this lifetime.
2. What is your nickname?
Doctor Dolittle.
3. What is your greatest fear?
Spiders. Sharks. Man-eating spider-sharks. The other person getting more popcorn than me when sharing a bucket at the movies.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Serious. Funny. Heartfelt. The type of stories that make you cry a little bit at the end, but they’re happy tears.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Today get words on page.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
I would be George from The Famous Five. She was the one who drove the whole adventure. Plus she had Timmy the dog, and lashings of ginger beer.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
2300, to see if we’ve solved climate change, and what worked.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
I know you think you’re going to be a vet, but you’re in for a surprise. You’re going to be a writer instead.
9. Who is your greatest influence?
Jack London, Mary O’Hara, James Herriot – great authors who wrote about animals and humans.
10. What/who made you start writing?
I fell in love with a boy band member when I was 11 and wrote a story about my best friends and I meeting the band. When my friends kept asking what happened next, I continued… it was such fun.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Phantasmagorical. Because I have never managed to use it in a book. It means having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
What kind of question is this? What kind of hell exists where you can only read one book for the rest of your life? It would have to be a book called something like ‘The Neverending Story’, or ‘Harry Potter and the magic book that adds another chapter when you reach the end’.
Jesse Blackadder was a horse-mad city kid who wanted to be a vet and grew up to become an author instead. Jesse has written award-winning novels for adults and children, including the story of the last dog in Antarctica, and a wild brumby that became an endurance racehorse. For more information, see www.jesseblackadder.com.
