2016 Interview
Interview with the Authors
Pupils from Elgin High School tweeted questions to the authors shortlisted for 2016's award. Check out their responses below!
Q1 What's the one best thing about being an author?
Cathy MacPhail: Doing the thing you enjoy doing the most ... And getting paid!
Virginia Bergin: That it's my job to use my imagination.
Juno Dawson: The best part is the day your finished book arrives. It’s pure magic.
Kim Slater: Best thing is being able to work in my PJ's if the mood takes me!
Eve Ainsworth: Being paid to do what I love and working in my pyjamas x
Q2 Libby asks - do you read a lot?
Cathy MacPhail: All the time. Best way to learn how to write. Usually more than one book at a time .
Virginia Bergin: This is the only thing I don't like about being an author. I find it hard to read when I'm writing hard. It's frustrating!
Juno Dawson: Yes - it’s the only way you can be a better writer. Read both good and bad books!
Kim Slater: Yes Libby, I read really widely, loads of YA and I really like crime fiction too!
Eve Ainsworth: Every day. I'm never without a book
Q3 Libby also asks 'Do you look up to any authors? Who?'
Cathy MacPhail: Too many to mention. RLS, Stephen King, Charles Dickens, Poe..
Virginia Bergin: In YA, I look up to @malorieblackman and @junodawson because they work so hard to support and encourage young people. :)))
Juno Dawson: I love @Patrick_Ness @malorieblackman @loversdiction @MargaretAtwood
Kim Slater: I have lots of favourite authors Libby, in YA I really like reading Sarah Crossan and Katherine Woodfine atm!
Eve Ainsworth: Many. Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine & Melvin Burgess are fab
Q.4 Kirsten wants to know if you ever run out of ideas?
Cathy MacPhail: Never have. I jot ideas down every day. I have notebooks full.
Virginia Bergin: No! I think everyone has millions of ideas every single day . . . but picking the good ones to work with can be tricky!
Juno Dawson: No! It’s about finding the time to write all the ideas I have!
Kim Slater: I have loads of ideas Kirsten & they just keep coming! I always file new ones in my top secret 'Ideas' folder on my laptop!
Eve Ainsworth: I haven't done yet....
Q. 5 And she wonders if any of your characters are based on you?
Cathy MacPhail: I think Fay in Another Me because I had nightmares about that
Virginia Bergin: No . . . not exactly . . . but I think you really use your own experiences, observations and emotions when you write. ;)
Juno Dawson: They’re all somewhat based on me. But especially Molly Sue!
Kim Slater: Can't say any characters are based on me but I find lots of their pet hates or fave places are mine...so maybe. little!
Eve Ainsworth: There's a little bit of Jess in me
Q. 6 What’s your favourite character out of all your books?
Virginia Bergin: RUBY!!!!!!!!
Juno Dawson: Molly Sue in Under My Skin!
Kim Slater: I think I'll always have a soft spot for Kieran from 'Smart' - he was my first main character and he has a certain charm!
Eve Ainsworth: Anna in Crush
Q.7 What other kinds of jobs have you had?
Cathy MacPhail: I've worked in a mill, a bra factory and IBM. Best job, a mum!
Virginia Bergin: About 100 of them! Factory work, social care, psychological research, documentary scriptwriting, bookshop. You name it.
Juno Dawson: I was a teacher, an office worker and a fish and chip shop person!
Kim Slater: For the last 15 yrs I worked as a self employed school bursar managing budgets...now happily I write full-time
Eve Ainsworth: HR. Child protection. Recruitment consultant. Shoe fitter :)
Q.8 What do you do to stop getting bored of writing?
Cathy MacPhail: Write another story. Something completely different.
Virginia Bergin: If I get bored writing something, it usually means I'm doing it wrong! You HAVE to feel excited about what you write.
Juno Dawson: I never get bored of writing! I write every day!
Kim Slater: Did you say BORED OF WRITING?? Never happens but I sometimes get tired, close my laptop and read as a treat!
Eve Ainsworth: I try writing new things or read books to inspire me
Bonus question: What is your favourite Shakespeare quote?
Cathy MacPhail: Have more than you show. Speak less than you know.( Lear)
Virginia Bergin: ‘I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.'
Eve Ainsworth: "Doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar but never doubt I love." Hamlet
Kim Slater: 'Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself' Henry VIII ... Good advice, I think!
Many thanks to the pupils and librarians of Elgin High School for conducting this interview, and many thanks to the authors for their fantastic responses!
Check out the authors' Twitter pages by following the links below: