The Kidlit Interview Series
Children's literature encompasses some of the most imaginative, entertaining, well-written fiction out there, so every Tuesday I shine a spotlight on it by interviewing a different middle-grade author. Come back regularly to find writers answering crucial questions like who they'd want riding alongside come the zombie apocalypse...
This week am delighted to have as my guest Stephanie Burgis, author of the brilliant trilogy of Regency fantasy adventures for kids, The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, which has been published in the UK and US. Stephanie lives in a small town in Wales, surrounded by castles and coffeeshops. She has published over 30 short stories for adults and teens, and her first novel, A Most Improper Magick, won the Waverton Good Read Children's Award 2011 for best début novel by a British children's writer.
THE HERE BE DRAGONS 8 KILLER QUESTIONS
1) Uh oh, it’s the zombie apocalypse. Which author (living or dead) do you want riding shotgun?
Ooh, should I choose based on their books or on their real personalities? Either way, if I have to choose just one author, it should definitely be my friend Jenn Reese, who is a martial artist in real life and writes FABULOUS fight scenes in her MG science fiction adventures (starting with Above World).
2) Look, I got a time machine on eBay! Where do you want to go? (Said time machine may possibly malfunction and leave you there. Possibly. It was *very* cheap.)
Uh-oh. The possibility of getting left there SERIOUSLY changes my answer - because as much as I'd love to visit Jane Austen's time period for a day or so, I would NEVER want to get stuck there. Reading and writing novels set in that time period is as close as I'd ever want to come to actually living in an era with such ingrained sexism and such terrible medical care. And I'm awfully happy with my family and couldn't really take the risk of leaving them behind... so, boringly, I'm going to say that I'll skip the time machine completely. Have fun, though! And if you get stuck in the past, leave me a message in a buried time capsule to let me know what it was really like!
3) What’s your favourite thing about writing for kids?
I love getting to tap into that sense of wonder that isn't hampered by too much cynicism, and I LOVE getting to meet my readers. Every time I do an event for kids, I come out feeling SO charged up and swearing that I'll never stop writing for kids, ever, ever!
4) A witch has cast a spell on you (sorry about that) and you’ve woken up as a character in a children’s book – what’s your special talent or power?
Ooh. I'd love it to be the power to fly. I've always wanted that one!
5) What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
The scariest thing I ever did was step on a plane to move to Europe (from America) without a job or any guarantees, to live with my British boyfriend after ten months of a long-distance relationship and less than ten weeks together in person, ever! (We'd met at a six-week writing workshop in Seattle the year before.)
Luckily, it was also one of the best decisions of my life! :) (I'm now a UK/US dual citizen living in Wales with Patrick and our two children, Patrick and I are coming up on our ten-year wedding anniversary, and Patrick's first, fabulous MG novel - Secrets of the Dragon Tomb - is coming out next year!)
6) What’s something you wish you’d known about writing when you started out? What’s something you wish you’d known about publishing?
I wish I'd wasted less time and energy on self-doubt. I still wish that about myself now!
7) What would your daemon be?
I'd love it to be a wolf.
8) My book(s) don’t have dragons, but they do have... magic spells, highwaymen, humor and romance!
Ooh, should I choose based on their books or on their real personalities? Either way, if I have to choose just one author, it should definitely be my friend Jenn Reese, who is a martial artist in real life and writes FABULOUS fight scenes in her MG science fiction adventures (starting with Above World).
2) Look, I got a time machine on eBay! Where do you want to go? (Said time machine may possibly malfunction and leave you there. Possibly. It was *very* cheap.)
Uh-oh. The possibility of getting left there SERIOUSLY changes my answer - because as much as I'd love to visit Jane Austen's time period for a day or so, I would NEVER want to get stuck there. Reading and writing novels set in that time period is as close as I'd ever want to come to actually living in an era with such ingrained sexism and such terrible medical care. And I'm awfully happy with my family and couldn't really take the risk of leaving them behind... so, boringly, I'm going to say that I'll skip the time machine completely. Have fun, though! And if you get stuck in the past, leave me a message in a buried time capsule to let me know what it was really like!
3) What’s your favourite thing about writing for kids?
I love getting to tap into that sense of wonder that isn't hampered by too much cynicism, and I LOVE getting to meet my readers. Every time I do an event for kids, I come out feeling SO charged up and swearing that I'll never stop writing for kids, ever, ever!
4) A witch has cast a spell on you (sorry about that) and you’ve woken up as a character in a children’s book – what’s your special talent or power?
Ooh. I'd love it to be the power to fly. I've always wanted that one!
5) What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
The scariest thing I ever did was step on a plane to move to Europe (from America) without a job or any guarantees, to live with my British boyfriend after ten months of a long-distance relationship and less than ten weeks together in person, ever! (We'd met at a six-week writing workshop in Seattle the year before.)
Luckily, it was also one of the best decisions of my life! :) (I'm now a UK/US dual citizen living in Wales with Patrick and our two children, Patrick and I are coming up on our ten-year wedding anniversary, and Patrick's first, fabulous MG novel - Secrets of the Dragon Tomb - is coming out next year!)
6) What’s something you wish you’d known about writing when you started out? What’s something you wish you’d known about publishing?
I wish I'd wasted less time and energy on self-doubt. I still wish that about myself now!
7) What would your daemon be?
I'd love it to be a wolf.
8) My book(s) don’t have dragons, but they do have... magic spells, highwaymen, humor and romance!
Aww, no wonder your books have bravery and romance threaded through them! To find out more about Stephanie and her books check out her website, where you can read sample chapters from all three books, and chat to her on Twitter.
Come back next Tuesday for the Here Be Dragons interview with Dana Alison Levy, author of The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher!
