It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)
Award-winning author Deborah Abela takes the baton today. Deborah Abela’s recent book, Teresa: A New Australian, was inspired by her dad who was born in a cave in Malta during one of the heaviest bombing raids of WW2. Her latest book is The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee.
You might recognise some of these book covers:
Last week James Foley asked a question:
Do you find that your characters reflect different aspects of your personality? So the heroic characters might reflect your good side, the villains might reflect your naughty side, the protagonists might share your strengths and weaknesses, etc?
xx
Deborah’s answer:
Dear James,
That’s a great question. My characters are often small versions of people I know or of me … or the me I’d like to be.
In my series, Max Remy Superspy, Max is a young feisty but very clumsy girl who loves adventure … that is pretty much how I was as a kid.
In Grimsdon — my novel about kids living in a flooded city — the hero is a girl called Isabella Charm. She is brave and courageous and very good with swords … she is someone I would very much like to be.
In The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee, India Wimple is a brilliant speller but is terribly shy and lacking confidence … I was also a bit shy as a kid.
xx
And now Deborah Abela passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — Oliver Phommavanh. Oliver is a comedien and the author of many humorous books. His latest book is The Other Christy. xx
Deborah asks:
In your writing, you have this wonderful ability to create characters that feel real and who I very quickly feel I know and like. Do you know your characters really well before you write or do they come to life as you rewrite each draft?
xx
Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators. See you next week!
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