WHERE DO YOUR STORY IDEAS COME FROM?
Ideas for stories come from many places.
- Sometimes my own experience gives me an idea for a story.
- Other people’s experiences can inspire stories too.
- Occasionally ideas for a story just ‘pop up’ when I’m daydreaming…this usually happens when I’m walking or lying down, half asleep.
Want to know more about ideas? Click here
HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN?
I have written 98 books and illustrated 19.
8 of these books I both wrote and illustrated.
This makes a grand total of 109 books that I have had published.
If you want to know the titles of these books, click here.
DO YOU LIKE WRITING OR ILLUSTRATING BEST?
I enjoy them equally. It’s good to have two things to do because if I’m finding one frustrating, I can have a break and do the other thing for a while…unless I have a close deadline of course.
I like writing because finding a new idea for a story and trying to make it work is quite thrilling (but can be tricky at times). I like illustrating because I can listen to the music when I’m doing it…I can’t do this when I’m writing.
HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU GET PAID?
This can vary a great deal. Usually I get paid ‘royalties’ on my books. This means that I receive a small amount of the price of each book when it is sold…usually 5%. So if a book sells for $20, I get $1 of that. If I write and illustrate the book I get twice that…$2.
The more books that are sold, the more money I earn.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS?
There are lots…here are just a few.
Dr Seuss is a star. I love the rhythm and silliness in his language and ideas. Favourite: I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew.
Roald Dahl is very wicked and brave in the way he creates dark, nasty characters and dramatic, outrageous stories. Favourites: The BFG and Danny, Champion of the World
Shaun Tan’s illustrations are surprising and beautifully done. Favourite: The Arrival.
Michael Gerard Bauer’s stories are so warm…and often very funny. Favourite: Don’t call me Ishmael
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK OUT OF THE ONES YOU HAVE WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED?
I have lots of favourites.
I like Arthur because it is the first book I had published and because Donna’s illustrations of Arthur suit the words perfectly.
I like Smart Dad because it was inspired by my smart dad. He built a ski boat when I was young and we had lots of happy family holidays with it. I talked to him about what it was like to build a boat before I wrote and illustrated this story.
I like Wilbur because it was very enjoyable working with Phil Cummings. His stories are always uplifting and full of fun and energy….a lot like Phil.
I like The First Musician because much of the story is told in the illustrations and not the words. This is something I would like to do more in my books.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST BOOK THAT YOU WROTE?
The first book that I wrote that was published was Arthur. Picasso the green tree frog was written before Arthur but it was published later. This is because the illustrations for Picasso took much longer to do.
HOW DID YOU BECOME AN AUTHOR?
When I finished high school I went to teachers’ college to study primary school teaching.
While I was there, I wrote and illustrated story called Grundel Morseau for one of my writing projects. My lecturer suggested that I send it to a publisher. No one wanted to publish Grundel Morseau but I met a publisher at Era Publications called Rodney Martin. He asked me to write some more stories. I showed him Picasso and he liked it enough to make it into a book. John Siow illustrated this story.
I enjoyed the experience of writing and publishing very much, so I continued to write while teaching.
HOW DID YOU BECOME AN ILLUSTRATOR?
I have always enjoyed drawing and painting and when I saw different illustrators illustrating my stories I became interested in doing this myself. I went to art/design school for three years. I illustrated my first book, In the middle of the night, as part of my study.
WHAT IS THE LONGEST BOOK THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN?
Hmm, I think it might be one of my non fiction books for older children. These are around 1200 words…not very long. My shortest book is 29 words...shorter than the weekly shopping list!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TO BECOME AN AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR?
The best thing you can do if you want to be a writer is read a lot. Find books that you like and ‘eat them up’.
If you want to be an illustrator keep your eyes open and look closely at all sorts of things around you. Notice how they look and try to draw them. Do drawings from your imagination too...lots of them.