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	Children's Frequently Asked Questions Where do your ideas come from? Ideas come from everything I (or you) do and from everything we can imagine. I start writing about something I know about and very soon I'm asking "What if…?" and a whole story is developing. I usually start with the idea for a character - like Arlo in Chute Thru, or Thor in Thor's Tale, then I imagine something happening and I ask myself: what would that character do? Arlo is a very clever engineer but he doesn't know it because no one has told him he is. He can't spell and he knows this, because his teacher tells him so often. An astronaut splashes down beside Arlo's raft. I just asked myself: What would Arlo do? This story is my answer to that question.
How do you write a story? Sometimes I scribble my first ideas for the story into a notebook. I just write and write, whatever comes into my head. Then I start shaping it into a story. I work out who my characters will be. I work out what happens in the first chapter. First chapters are very important. I shape the story, usually by drawing a big wave, making sure the story is getting more and more interesting as it goes along, then I write the ending. All this is done quickly, without much detail. Then I go back and fill in all the interesting details. I do about 6 drafts. In drafts 5 and 6 I cut out everything that shouldn't be in the story. This is important because the story has to keep moving forward.
Why do you write for children? I like writing books about the extraordinary in ordinary daily life. I like to see the world through fresh eyes; and that is what a child does. I like the energy of children and their sense of humour and that is also something I put in my writing. I write for all sorts of different children's markets. I sometimes write funny books about how difficult it is for children to understand adults - like Letters to Lesley and Brain Drain. And I also enjoy writing articles and short stories for educational publications. I have written many of these. They are a great opportunity to try different genres, and tailor your writing to a particular market.
Where do you write? I used to write in notebooks but now I'm happiest writing on my computer. I live in the middle of a city . My writing room is at the top of my house. From my computer desk I can look out to the hills. The hills are very important to my work because it is there, where I walk my dog every day, that I think of the ideas for my stories. I find it hard to think when I'm sitting down. Walking, or being in a car, are better ways for me to think.
What is your favourite book you've written? I like all my books. They are very different from each other. They range from books for pre-schoolers like When Mum Went Away, and Where is Rubber Duckee ? (which was published for the Water Safety Council) to books for teenagers, like Crossroads and the soon-to-be published Taking Off. I like trying out different ways of writing.
What kinds of books do you write? I write many different kinds of books. I started writing funny books about families - like Letters to Lesley and Brain Drain. I've written historical fiction, like Thor's Tale (about whaling in the sub Antarctic), humorous science fiction ( like Chute Thru), stories about domestic drama ( like Hope's Rainbow or Crossroads.) I like writing non fiction too (like the biography of Charles Upham, New Zealand's most decorated soldier.) I've written two gardening books for children too, and historical stories for Radio New Zealand, including one about Charles Upham's funeral and one about Yvette Williams.
What will your next book be? It's a book about a girl whose uncle becomes ill while flying a plane . I developed the character of the girl before I asked myself the question: What would Allie do? Then I wrote the answer to that question, and that is the book. The book is about hope, bravery and determination. It's called Taking Off.
Tell us about your life. I lived on a sheep station on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. After Victoria University I went to San Francisco where I was an information clerk for the Australian Consulate in San Francisco, a job that called forth all the powers of my imagination as I'd never been to Australia. I researched scripts for T.V, broadcast on radio, and studied music. I also completed a Masters degree in rare books at the University of California, Berkeley, attended lots of peace rallies, and got married.
I've lived in:                • Vancouver, Canada, working as a science reference librarian                • London, where I worked on Capital Radio's Helpline for four years                • New Zealand , working as a television researcher, teacher then audio producer I write, mentor and tutor new writers, and grow my own fruit and vegetables in a garden in the middle of a city.