"Background and inheritance are very important to me in my writing. My characters are shaped by the environment they have been born into or are growing up in, and also by the genes they inherit. The children of Northern Ireland are different from other children in the British Isles because of their religious and political inheritance, yet in many ways they are similar to young people everywhere. It is the universality of much of human experiences which enables the reader to identify with the characters in a novel and find echoes of recognition, regardless of where the book is set.

I was born in Edinburgh, where I now live, but spent the formative years of my life, from the age of two to eighteen, in Belfast. From those years have come the Kevin and Sadie Quintet and The File on Fraulein Berg. Scotland, too, has provided the background for several of my books, such as Rags and Riches, Glad Rags and Strangers in the House, while my husband’s backgrounds of Latvia and C...

"Background and inheritance are very important to me in my writing. My characters are shaped by the environment they have been born into or are growing up in, and also by the genes they inherit. The children of Northern Ireland are different from other children in the British Isles because of their religious and political inheritance, yet in many ways they are similar to young people everywhere. It is the universality of much of human experiences which enables the reader to identify with the characters in a novel and find echoes of recognition, regardless of where the book is set.

I was born in Edinburgh, where I now live, but spent the formative years of my life, from the age of two to eighteen, in Belfast. From those years have come the Kevin and Sadie Quintet and The File on Fraulein Berg. Scotland, too, has provided the background for several of my books, such as Rags and Riches, Glad Rags and Strangers in the House, while my husband’s backgrounds of Latvia and Canada have inspired me to write Tug of War, Between Two Worlds and Night Fires.

Many of my characters do not remain in their particular backgrounds; they are uprooted - displaced - for one reason or another, and have to resettle. When people are displaced from their pattern of living, they have to readjust, to take stock of old values and assess new ones. Their lives are suddenly wide open, many new things become possible. What will they do, which way will they go? The crossroads of change interest me very much as a writer. Adolescence itself is a major crossroad in life, a time of upheaval, which can be both exciting and stressful. I think that is why I have written so much about the teenage years.

I began to write when I was eleven years old. I was an avid reader and could never find enough to read. One day when I was complaining to my mother about having nothing to read she said, “Why don’t you write a book of your own?” I thought, “Why not?” So I acquired some lined, foolscap paper, filled my fountain pen with green ink and began. From then on I wanted to be a writer, a novelist, and create stories of my own. It has always seemed to me that life is limited - we inhabit one body and see the world through our own eyes - but by writing, and reading, we can live in different worlds, get inside the skins and minds of other people, and, in this way, push out the boundaries of our lives."

Joan Lingard received the prestigious West German award the Buxtehuder Bulle in 1986 for Across the Barricades. Tug of War has also enjoyed great success and was shortlisted for the 1989 Carnegie Medal, the 1989 Federation of Children’s Book Group Award, runner up in the 1990 Lancashire Children’s Book Club of the Year and shortlisted for the 1989 Sheffield Book Award.

Joan Lingard has three grown up daughters and one grandson and lives in Edinburgh with her Canadian husband.

PLACE OF BIRTH:
Edinburgh

FAVOURITE BOOK:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

MOST TREASURED POSSESSSION:
Privacy

FAVOURITE POEM:
'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' by W. B. Yeats

FAVOURITE FILM:
The Third Man

When did you start writing?
I began to write when I was eleven years old and living in Belfast. I was an avid reader and could never get enough to read. One day when I had nothing to read and nothing to do, and was complaining loudly to my mother, she turned to me and said, 'Why don't you write a book of your own?' I thought, 'Why not?' I got lined, foolscap paper, filled my fountain pen with green ink, and began. This was the first step on the way to me becoming a novelist.

Where do you get your ideas?
I get my ideas in many different ways. Sometimes from events that have actually happened, as in Tug of War; or from backgrou...

PLACE OF BIRTH:
Edinburgh

FAVOURITE BOOK:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

MOST TREASURED POSSESSSION:
Privacy

FAVOURITE POEM:
'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' by W. B. Yeats

FAVOURITE FILM:
The Third Man

When did you start writing?
I began to write when I was eleven years old and living in Belfast. I was an avid reader and could never get enough to read. One day when I had nothing to read and nothing to do, and was complaining loudly to my mother, she turned to me and said, 'Why don't you write a book of your own?' I thought, 'Why not?' I got lined, foolscap paper, filled my fountain pen with green ink, and began. This was the first step on the way to me becoming a novelist.

Where do you get your ideas?
I get my ideas in many different ways. Sometimes from events that have actually happened, as in Tug of War; or from backgrounds that I know, such as Belfast, in the 'Kevin and Sadie' series; or by starting to build up characters one by one, as I did in Rags and Riches.

Can you give your top three tips to becoming a successful author?
1. Read a lot.
2. Write a lot and be critical of what you write and be ready to rewrite.
3. Persevere.

Favourite place in the world and why?
Edinburgh, because it is my home, and a beautiful city.

What are your hobbies?
Reading, walking and travelling.

If you hadn't been a writer, what do you think you would have been?
Unhappy!