In case you missed it, here’s the inverview with Gill Arbuthnott, author of the chilly Winterbringers.

Q: What inspired you to write Winterbringers?

Gill Abruthnott [GA]: A combination of the place it’s set, and the local legends, especially the history of witches in the East Neuk of Fife. And I’d kept reading articles about how Scotland could get much colder due to global warming if the Gulf Stream got pushed away from its normal track, so that got me thinking.

Q: Did you always want to be an author?

GA: Ooh yes. From the moment I learned how to read, I wanted to write as well. I didn’t think real people could do it for a long time though. I thought you had to be “special”. Luckily for me, you don’t!

Q: How long does it take you to write a book?

GA: How long is that piece of string? Anything from six weeks to eighteen months for a first draft, but that’s only the start, of course. Most books go through lots of drafts before they’re fit to be seen by anyone else.

Q: How many books have you written?

GA: Eight that are published, two in the pipeline and about another half dozen either at the “polishing” stage or languishing in a drawer somewhere. And lots in my head, waiting their turn to be written!

Q: When did you first start writing books for children?

GA: In 2001. I’d been trying to get adult books published for years, with no success. I started on a new story and found, to my surprise, that it had turned into a children’s book. It eventually became The Chaos Clock and I realised that maybe I was actually a children’s writer…

Q: Are you working on a book at the moment?

GA: Always! I’m editing a novel, preparing to redraft another one after Christmas, working on an idea for a series of science books, and letting a new picture book idea take shape in my head.

Q: Who is your favourite character from all of your books?

GA: That’s a tricky one. I’m having real problems here… The one I would most like to be is Chutney Mary the cat from Winterbringers (because I think being a cat is a pretty cushy life), but I don’t think I actually have a favourite. I’m afraid to choose one in case the others all gang up on me.

Q: Have you ever based a character on someone you know in real life?

GA: Oh yes! Bits of people creep in all the time of course, but the only time I’ve done it on purpose was with the witches in Winterbringers who were based on my mum and three of her friends. I got cold feet after I’d done it, in case they were mortally offended at being turned into witches, but luckily for me, they really liked the idea. You do need to be a bit careful though…

Q: What is the best thing about being an author?

GA: Well, having Winterbringers made into a film will be pretty hard to beat! Not a Hollywood blockbuster, but an indie production by Parsons Green Primary School. They had a proper premiere and I got to dress up for it. That was a really special evening. I also love doing school visits and talking to the people who actually read my books.

Q: Do you plan all of your stories in advance?

GA: No. In fact, I’m dreadful at planning. I have to write the books to find out how they end. I’d get bored if I knew what was going to happen though… but it does mean I have to do a lot of rewriting, because the beginning quite often doesn’t make sense any more by the time I reach the end.

Q: How did you choose the location for the book?

GA: I’d set my first two books in Edinburgh, but I felt I’d used it up, so I needed somewhere different. The other area in Scotland that I know really well is the East Neuk of Fife. There are lots of interesting local stories and wonderful settings there, so I stole them all for Winterbringers.

Q: When you are writing, have your characters ever done anything unexpected?

GA: Yes. Sometimes I’ve pictured a scene in my head long before I wrote it, and by the time I get there, it just doesn’t work for the characters concerned any more. They’ve taken on a life of their own and they won’t cooperate. You can’t make them do something if they don’t want to; it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Q: In Winterbringers the summer weather turns inexplicably cold (even for Scotland). What is your favourite season and why?

GA: I like them all, so long as you get proper weather and not just endless damp. Give me a good, cold winter and a hot sunny summer and I’d be very, very happy.

Q: What do you think is the best thing about winter?

GA: Sitting in front of the fire in the evening, with the shutters closed and the wind howling outside, knowing you don’t have to go out, and can curl up with a book instead.

Q: What book (other than Winterbringers) do you think all children should read before they grow up?

GA: I would never say anyone should read anything! The important bit is to read something. Read what excites you, then read some more, and some more after that. I have to say though, that one of my favourite children’s books, and one that’s perfect for reading at this time of year, is The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. I think anyone who enjoys Winterbringers would love it.

Thanks Gill!

P.S — Our current Book of the Month is a brilliant detective story! Visit the Book of the Month page to read the author interview with Mike Nicholson and enter the competition for the chance to win a signed copy of his book Catscape.

Do you know how to look after the hedgehogs that live in your garden? Our friends at The British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the PTES (that stands for People’s Trust for Endangered Species) want all of you to help your friendly hedgehog neighbours.

To help give you some advice on how to look after our spiky friends they have a cool website called Hedgehog Street where you can get top tips and see cute photos!

They’ve even made up this fun game called the Hedgehog Street Challenge — it’s got a cool Hog Cam with a hedgehog’s eye view. Can you make sure your hedgehog gets home safely?

Did you know that baby hedgehogs are called hoglets? That’s what we called the hedgehog hero of our book Hoglet the Spineless Hedgehog. Click here if you want to read a sneak peek of the story of poor hoglet.

Posted by: Chani at Discover Kelpies

P.S – If you like Hoglet the Spineless Hedgehog you might like another book about animals called The Cat Who Decided (Mac is a cool cat!)

In case you missed it, here’s the interview with Alette J. Willis, author of How to Make a Golem (and Terrify People).

Q: What inspired you to write How to Make a Golem and Terrify People?
Alette Willis [AW]:How to Make a Golem (and Terrify People) explores one girl’s attempts to get over her fears and the some of the choices she makes along the way. Fear can be a good thing, it can keep us safe and out of trouble, but if we’re not careful being afraid can become a difficult habit to break.

Q: In the book Edda hates her nickname “Mouse”. Did you have a nickname when you were at school?
AW: I had lots of nicknames when I was at school, all from the same friend, but she called people names out of affection, not meanness like Euan. Probably the most common name she called me was pretzel. I got back at her by calling her gherkin.

Q: Did you always want to be an author?
AW: I have always loved books and I’ve always dreamed of being an author, but there have been times when I came close to giving up. Last autumn, my work went down to part-time and I decided I’d use that extra time to work seriously on my writing. I’m glad I did so. Otherwise, there’d be no How to Make a Golem.

Q: How long did it take you to write the book?
AW: This book took me six months to write. I began writing it last September and I had to have it done for the Kelpies Prize deadline at the end of February. Having a deadline was great. It made me work extra hard. Without the deadline I probably would have taken a lot longer to write the book.

Q: Why did you choose Corstorphine Hill in Edinburgh as the location for the book?
AW: Corstorphine Hill is one of my favourite places in Edinburgh; I go there quite often. One day as I was sitting under a sycamore tree on Corstorphine Hill, Edda popped into my head. She loved the Hill so much she wanted to live there, so really I had no choice in the matter.

Q: How do you decide what the cover looks like?
AW: The production manager is in charge of that. Luckily for me, Floris Books has a brilliant production manager and she hired the fabulous illustrator Nicola L Robinson and the rest is history. Really, I couldn’t be happier with the cover. It’s totally brilliant. Michael and Edda look exactly how I pictured them and it even has Benedict the pickled frog on the back!

Q: Apart from the golem, what is your favourite supernatural creature?
AW: Hmm, that’s a tough question. I’d have to say animals that talk and animals that turn into humans and vice versa, like Selkies and Werewolves. I’ve always wanted to be able to talk to animals and hear directly from them what it is like to be something other than a person. That is the greatest magic I think, to be able to cross the boundaries between people and animals.

Q: Did you ever try to make a supernatural creature as a child?
AW: Not exactly, but I spent a lot of my summer holidays making haunted houses in the basement of my house with the help of my sister and our friend Tanya, who lived next door. We took turns trying to scare each other by making disgusting things like bowls of eyeballs (skinless grapes) and heads with worms for hair (spaghetti). It was a lot of fun.

Q: What is the best thing about being an author?
AW: Holding a printed copy of the book I’d written in my hand for the first time, that was an amazing feeling. To know that total strangers would soon be reading something I’d written and hopefully enjoy it and be moved by it.

Q: Did you base any of the characters on someone you know in real life?
AW: Henry. My friend Marta has a lovely golden retriever named Henry. She had to leave him behind when she moved back to Argentina, so you can imagine how surprised I was to find him living with Mr. Campbell next door to Edda and her family.

Q: When you were writing did any of the characters ever do anything unexpected?
AW: I never expected Lucy to snort biscuit crumbs out of her nose, that’s for sure. But more seriously, to a certain extent everything the characters did was unexpected. I had a general idea of where the story was going and I knew quite a bit about the characters, but they always had the last say about what it was they were going to do on the page.

Q: Apart from How to Make a Golem (and Terrify People), what book do you think all children should read before they grow up?
AW: Madeleine L’Engel’s A Wrinkle in Time. Every adult should read it too.

Q: When you sent in your manuscript, did you think you would win the Kelpies Prize 2011?
AW: No. I certainly hoped my book would win, but I was taken completely by surprise when Lari Don opened the envelope and read out my name..

Q: What did it feel like winning the Kelpies Prize?
AW: Just look at the photos that were taken on that night; my smile is so wide it almost splits my face it two. I’ve wanted to publish a novel for children for so many years, to actually know that my dream was coming true made me incredibly happy. It was a wonderful feeling and I’ll never forget that night.

Q: What advice would you give to all the budding young authors out there?
AW: Keep at it. Lots of people say they want to be authors. The ones who actually manage to fulfill their dreams are the ones who sit down and write and write and write. The ones that don’t become authors are the ones who talk about it, but rarely put pen to paper.

Thanks Alette!

Posted by: Benedicte at Discover Kelpies

P.S — Our current Book of the Month is a chilling read! Visit the Book of the Month page to read the author interview with Gill Arbuthnott and for the chance to win a signed copy of her book Winterbringers.

The Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow was alive with glitter, tutus and ballet shoes yesterday as Janey Louise Jones, author of Princess Poppy celebrated the second book in her Cloudberry Castle series.

The fabulously girly Cloudberry Castle series follows the adventures of Katie Mackenzie, who dreams of becoming a real ballerina. In Janey’s newest book, Cloudberry Castle: Ballet School Secrets, Katie’s family has finally opened the Cloudberry School of Dance, but with dance rivals and mysterious figures, all is not plain sailing for Katie.

Hard at work designing tutus

Janey’s fans were greeted with an array of ballet-themed activities: craft competitions for designing the best ballet shoe, tutu and tiara, cupcake decoration (yum yum), storytelling from Cloudberry Castle: Ballet School Secrets and a dance lesson with real-life ballerinas (who looked amazing in their tutus and tiaras). There were some brilliantly colourful ballet drawings to be seen and the cupcakes all looked delicious (but vanished pretty quickly)!

Janey and the ballerinas giving a dance lesson

On top of the craft competitions, everyone who bought a Cloudberry Castle book were entered into a raffle. The lucky winners received tickets to see the magical Sleeping Beauty at Scottish Ballet just in time for Christmas. Sleeping Beauty is the ballet Katie and her friends perform as the Cloudberry School of Dance Christmas show, and it was therefore very exciting to have tickets for a real performance as the raffle prize.

Craft competition entries

Janey was busy signing books and chatting with her readers. She was dressed head to toe in pink, looking the part of a ballet-mad author. Which is a good thing, as she is now talking about a third Cloudberry Castle book, full of glitter and sparkles.

A snapshot before this lovely cake was eaten

Posted by: Benedicte at DiscoverKelpies

PS.: For more photos from the ballet party, visit our Facebook page.

In case you missed it, here is the Book of the Month author interview with Janey Louise Jones. Janey released her book Cloudberry Castle: Ballet School Secrets earlier this year.

Q: Have you always wanted to be an author?
Janey Louise Jones [JJ]: Yes, I wrote stories as soon as I could write. The harder thing is making it happen as an adult, and sticking with the dream when it is tough to get started.

Q: What inspired you to write the Cloudberry Castle books?
JJ: I love Scottish castles and ballet, plus I wanted to write for my niece who also loves ballet.

Q: Why is the ballet special to you?
JJ: I find ballet looks graceful and elegant, but it is also the product of hard work and determination, so it is a good training ground for life.

Q: Did you ever want to become a ballerina yourself?
JJ: Yes, definitely. I danced for years until academic work got in the way.

Q: In Cloudberry Ballet: Ballet School Secrets Katie and the other ballerinas perform Sleeping Beauty. What’s your favourite ballet?

JJ: I love Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake (the ballet in the first Cloudberry Castle book) too as it is so beautiful on stage, and very emotional. But I also love The Nutcracker, by the same composer, Tchaikovsky.

Q: Cloudberry Castle: Ballet School Secrets introduces a new character, Leo, who is spoiled and difficult. What do you like about writing characters like Leo?
JJ: Well, the baddies are always more fun, as they can be more daring. And the really fascinating bit is finding out why they are unpleasant, and helping them to change throughout the story.

Q: Katie and her friends eat a lot of cake. What is your favourite cake?
JJ: Chocolate cake, though carrot cake with really good icing is a close second.

Q: As well as the Cloudberry Castle books you have also written the Princess Poppy books. What is the best thing about writing novels?
JJ: It is fun to write at greater length and develop a more intricate plot. I recall the pleasure of moving onto reading chapter books as a child and I get the same sort of enjoyment in writing them — you inhabit that world during the writing process.

Q: How do you feel when you finish writing a new book?
JJ: It is bittersweet as you leave the characters behind, but in a practical sense, you are relieved that the job is done.

Q: Do you plan your stories before you start writing?
JJ: Yes, a chapter plan is important for this sort of book as it has to follow a shape, but it is also fun to go off plan occasionally. Sometimes you think of new plot twists as you go along.

Q: Do your characters ever do anything you didn’t expect them to do?
JJ: Not exactly, because as a children’s writer, I feel my characters have to behave ‘in character’ so that the readers can get to know and trust them.

Q: What books, other than the Cloudberry Castle books, would you advice children to read before they grow up?
JJ: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and the classic Dickens novels, such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield.

Q: Will you be writing another book about Katie and Cloudberry Castle?
JJ: I hope so; girls are starting to follow Katie’s adventures, so it might lead to more stories.

Thanks Janey!

Posted by: Benedicte at Discover Kelpies

P.S — Our current Book of the Month is a scary (and muddy) read! Visit the Book of the Month page to read the author interview with Alette J. Willis and for the chance to win a signed copy of her new book How to Make a Golem (and Terrify People).