I have a nose for trouble. Just ask my boys. I can scent that they’re up to no good even before they’ve finished planning their misdeeds.
2. Who is your favourite literary villain and why?
Miss Trunchbull from Matilda. So big, so mean, so (apparently) impossible to defeat when you’re just a kid.
3. You're hosting a literary dinner party, which five authors would you invite? (alive or dead)
Enid Blyton (see question 9), Douglas Adams, JRR Tolkien, Judy Blume, Lynley Dodd.
4. Which literary invention do you wish was real?
Happily Ever After.
5. What are five words that describe your writing process?
Unplanned, exciting, curious, disciplined, dedicated.
6. Which are the five words you would like to be remembered by as a writer?
Exciting, surprising, entertaining, compelling, clever.
7. Picture your favourite writing space. What are five objects you would find there?
A pile of books, a bottle of water, at least three pens, my podcast headset (I always write at my desk) and handcream that I never remember to use.
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!)
“Look, I know you wanted things to be different, but they’re not – and now we have to deal with the zombies or else.”
Book: Derek Dool Supercool: Going Viral by Adrian Beck (Illustrated by Scott Edgar)
9. If you could ask one author one question, what would the question be and who would you ask?
I would ask Enid Blyton (at my literary dinner party) why Anne never insisted the other members of the Famous Five make their own sandwiches.
10. Which would you rather do: 'Never write another story or never read another book'?
What a horror scenario! It depends on the day. Today, while I’m knee-deep in a very tricky scene for my new book, I’d probably give up writing. But the thing with writing is that if you keep going, you eventually get through the tricky bits and you fall in love with it all over again. So tomorrow my answer might be ENTIRELY different.
Allison Tait (AL Tait) is the internationally published bestselling author of middle-grade adventure series The Mapmaker Chronicles and the Ateban Cipher. Her new novel, The Fire Star (A Maven & Reeve Mystery), was published on 1 September, 2020. Find out more at allisontait.com.