Place of birth and birthday:
I was born in Kaikoura in New Zealand on the 11th of March. Lots of people now visit the small town to go whale watching but the whales had moved away when I lived there.
What is your favourite book?
How can I possibly choose there are so many. My favourite book when I was about eight was ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett. When my children were young it was ‘The Story of Ferdinand’ by Munro Leaf. Now there are hundreds of favourites but I love John Burningham’s illustrations so any picture book illustrated by him especially ‘Aldo.’
What is your favourite song?
When I was a child my father often sang to my younger sister and me. He only seemed to know about four songs and they were all long and mournful. My favourite was a cowboy song called ‘The Streets of Laredo.’ I was so pleased with myself when I was about seven years old because I learned all the verses.
What is your favourite film?
I didn’t go to the films much when I was young and if I did it was probably to see a cowboy film. When it first came out I took some young friends to see ‘Babe’ about that sheep pig and we all loved it. I always cry when I watch ‘Anne of Green Gables’ on TV so that’s a favourite weepie. Adult films, probably a Spanish film called “Talk to Her.”
What is your most treasured possession?
I don’t really have one treasure possession.The only things I collect are books. I started collecting teapots but I wasn’t much good at it so I only have about 12 of them. I do have a painting by my husband David called ‘Shrine’ which he gave to me after we’d visited India. I loved India and I love the painting. Maybe that’s my most treasured possession.
When did you start writing?
When I was about ten years old my cousin came to stay. We decided we would be authors for the holidays so we put up a sign saying “Authors at Work.” This really annoyed my younger sister because she was banned from my bedroom. I remember writing three stories about sheep stealing ( I lived on a farm) and then we decided to play Cowboys and Indians instead.
The first book that was published, ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’ came out in 1977.
Where do your ideas and inspiration come from?
Ideas come from all sorts of places. When I first began writing some of the ideas came from things our children did. The ‘Lighthouse Keeper’ stories came about because David and I wanted to be lighthouse keepers and no one wanted us so I wrote about them instead.
‘A New Home for a Pirate’ was written because I thought how awful it would be if you had to be a pirate and you always got seasick as I do.
Can you give three tips to becoming a successful author?
That’s a favourite question. Well, first I suggest you do lots of reading. Most authors love reading. Do some writing. Everything gets better if you practice. And have lots of fun playing, make up games, play pretend, invent things. This is most fun if you can do it with friends but you can do it by yourself too.
What is your favourite place in the world?
It’s called Port Charles and it’s the place in New Zealand my family moved to when I was twelve years old. We had a wonderful swimming and boating beach down the track, lots of rocks and cliffs to climb and, at the end of the valley in the other direction, was the mountain called Moehau which is sacred to the Maori people. I go back if I can when I’m in New Zealand but I have such a clear picture of it in my head that I don’t need to visit very often. It is miles from any town so it hasn’t changed much since I lived there except that there are many more kiwis in the bush.
What are your hobbies?
I love reading, I always have a large pile of books beside my bed. I like walking with friends, going to see films and also going to the theatre. And I love being beside the sea or at the top of a hill.
If you hadn’t been an author what do you think you would have been?
When I was about nine years old I wanted to be a trapeze artist or a bare back rider.The problem with the latter was I was a bit nervous of horses. Later I hoped to be a lighthouse keeper. Actually it’s only in the last three years I have been just an author I’ve always had other jobs as well. I taught in primary schools for about ten years and then after being a school librarian I became a Family Counsellor.
