Liz Kessler
Children's author

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Section: About Writing

1. When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
I started writing when I was very young. When I was nine, my poem, Jinx's Shop was printed in the local newspaper. I made a book of my poems for my grandma, who was called Mama, and I was convinced I was going to be a poet when I grew up. I was in my 30s when I decided I wanted to write books. I went part time in my job and got on with it! And I haven't looked back!

2. What made you want to be a writer?
It's just what I've always wanted to be. I have also worked as a teacher and a journalist but I've always written and I think it's just part of who I am!

3. What's the best thing about being a writer?
The best thing about being a writer is that I can go to work in my pyjamas! And I can work in café bars. (Not in my pyjamas. I have to get dressed if I go to a café bar.) My favourite thing is sitting in a café with my notebook, watching people go by and working on a story.

4. Where do you get your ideas?
Another very popular question. And one that I always find hard to answer. For some stories, I have absolutely NO IDEA where I got the idea! That is certainly true of the first Emily Windsnap book. I have this sneaking suspicion that it's more a case of the ideas finding the writer than the other way round. However, sometimes I do know where the idea comes from. My third book, Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist, came from a conversation with a friend who told me about a magical castle on an island in Cornwall that's cut off from the mainland most of the time. I went to visit the island and decided it was the perfect place for Emily's third adventure. And Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister, comes from something that happened to me when I was about eight.

5. How long does it take to write a book?
On average it takes about a year. The first one took a bit longer, but I think I'm speeding up the more I do it. The last one took about six months – but I wrote two books that went completely wrong first!!

6. Do you ever get bored of writing?
I NEVER get bored of writing! In fact, I don't really get bored at all. There are always so many things to do! I do sometimes get frustrated with my writing, but that's not the writing's fault, it's mine! And it only really happens when things aren't flowing properly. When I feel like that, I usually have to go away and do something else for a bit, and when I come back to it again, it often goes into place a bit more smoothly.

7. Will you come to talk to my school/writing class/book group/bunch of friends?
I'd normally be very happy to come to your school (as long as it's in the UK). However, I'm off on my travels for a year, so I won't be able to do any visits. Check out my blog to find out more about my Big Trip!

8. Do you have any tips on how I can keep focused and inspired?
It's very, very hard! Sometimes you will have loads of inspiration and ideas, and other times it feels like you have no ideas at all! I would say enjoy the time when you have lots of ideas and keep all your thoughts and ideas in a notebook. Write something every day if possible – even if it's just a journal. And when you're really stuck, don't force it, go off and do something completely different for a week or two. When you come back to it, you'll feel much fresher and the ideas will come more easily.