Question Two
Okay I've finally answered the 'inspiration question in Random House's quesionnaire.
1.Who or what was the biggest inspiration for you to become a writer?
That’s such a huge question and it’s taken me a few days to answer. I felt it should be a chance enounter with a celebrated stranger or a book that I read that compelled me to write. But I think for me writing is just a continuation of playing. I played a lot of imaginative games as a kid, with my best friend Zoe, with my cousins, my sister and with the other kids who lived in the bushy suburb where I grew up. Every conversation Zoe and I had started with ‘Let’s say’ or ‘Let’s pretend.’ Zoe and I are still best friends. She comes around and she and Martin (my husband) and I sit around our table outside and talk about people we know and why they do the things they do. I’m very interested in other people’s motivations and actions – so this is perhaps why I tend to focus on my characters and creating a whole sense of their psychology in my writing. And I play with my kids now, my three year old is very imaginative too and it's one of the best things about being a parent - watching her playlife and dreamlife evolve.