I can read in a car for hours and not get car sick. I can eat anchovies straight from the jar (is that a talent?). I am a mean bodysurfer. I can still recite my Year 12 boarding-house roll call from A-Z. I was W (Webb).
2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?
I love the bear in Jon Klassen’s I want my Hat Back. He’s not really a villain, but he does eat the rabbit. And the rabbit probably deserved it. It’s so simple and I love that there’s no soft ending, no soft slap on the wrist for stealing. This is the real life: You do something bad, you might get eaten. I’m also up to #4 of Aaron Blabey’s The Bad Guys and killing myself with laughter; all those references to Mission Impossible and Ocean’s Eleven (that only I get). The villains are so hopeless and yet by some incredible luck they always come out on top; and when the snake eats the chickens instead of saving them... LOL. I used to edit Aaron Blabey’s early picture books and this step across to junior-fiction graphic novel was pure genius.
3. You're hosting a literary dinner party, which five authors would you invite? (alive or dead)
Patrick Ness, Tara June Winch, David Almond, Tara Westover, Sarah Winman
4. Which literary invention do you wish was real?
My sister Sif or Skellig or Matilda’s ability to move things with her mind. Of course, they may be real…
5. What are five words that describe your writing process?
Lightning strike inspiration. Mad scribbling.
6. Which are the five words you would like to be remembered by as a writer?
Imaginative, lyrical, inspirational, evocative, vibrant
7. Picture your favourite writing space. What are five objects you would find there?
Coffee/wine (depending on time of day), laptop, pen, window seat, lots of people and overheard stories…
8. Grab the nearest book, open it to page 22 and look for the second word in the first sentence. Now, write a line that starts with that word. (Please include the name of the book!)
Her Body and Other Parts, by Carmen Maria Machado: ‘To the edge of the forest and back, that's all she allowed herself this time.’
9. If you could ask one author one question, what would the question be and who would you ask?
Where does your inspiration come from? Patrick Ness.
10. Which would you rather do: 'Never write another story or never read another book'?
Never write another story. It’s lovely to create my own world but there are limits to my imagination. To never again walk in someone else’s shoes and feel what they feel is unimaginable!
Katrina lives in Melbourne with her three children, a gardener/baker/handyman husband, and a blue tongue lizard. She is lucky enough to spend all day crafting words as a writer and as an editor, helping authors unleash their inner magic. For more information, see www.scribblekidsbooks.com.
