1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
I would love to single-handedly solve a crime and present the culprit to the police. In the peak of the ensuing excitement I would then quietly leave the building not needing any thanks or attention.
2. What is your nickname?
Katrinchen or Frau Dreiling
3. What is your greatest fear?
To run out of dog food with the shops closed. What can I say, I have a Golden Retriever and he doesn’t negotiate...
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Straightforward, hopefully humorous, quirky, fun and kind but also a bit clumsy due to me not being a native speaker.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Eager to learn, cooperative, disciplined, passionate and driven.
Miss Marple because she can just do her thing without being noticed – most people don’t expect an old lady to have detective skills.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
The Victorian era – the illustrator in me would just go to town sketching that kind of fashion.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
Thank you for being brave.
9. Who is your greatest influence?
As a child it most definitely was the books that I read and in a more concrete sense it was Astrid Lindgren. Her character’s humour and way to look at the world greatly inspired and influenced me. Nowadays, I would say it’s my husband – he’s my best friend, too.
10. What/who made you start writing?
I have always written stories ever since I could write whole sentences. Things got difficult when I studied German and English at uni and the style I used in German stood in the way of my English writing. This is a constant challenge for me but I love it.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Flamboyant – one day I will create an evil character named Flam Boyant!
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Beatrice Alemagna’s The Marvelous Fluffy Squishy Itty Bitty of course!
Katrin Dreiling is a teacher-trained illustrator based in Brisbane who loves to come up with quirky creations that inspire children to get creative themselves. She has illustrated several picture books, and her first author/illustrator work, A Perfect Pig, has just been released. She contributes the Meet the Illustrator posts for Kids' Book Review and just recently took the role of SCBWI QLD Illustrators Coordinator. Katrin is represented by US literary agent Essie White at Storm Literary.
For more information, please visit Katrin's website or follow her on instagram or artfol.
