All through October, Alphabet Soup is celebrating turning three. We have heaps of writers and illustrators stopping by to answer THREE QUICK QUESTIONS and today’s visitor is Tania McCartney, author of the ‘Riley the Little Aviator’ series. The latest is the series is Riley and the Grumpy Wombat.
1. Where do you like to write?
In my trackie dacks. All hail the trackie dacks! I write from within these dacks … though of course, I don’t use my legs to type. I suppose I could get little teensy trackie dacks made for my fingers? I also like to write in cafés with my laptop, although I don’t wear my trackie dacks to the café. If you saw my trackie dacks, you’d know why.
2. Can you name a book you’d recommend to our readers?
I read the new Dr Seuss book—The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories—and it wasn’t even published yet, so I felt very special seeing it so early. My heart was thumping out of my chest when I first picked it up. It thumped so hard, I had to give the book a hug to calm my heart down. I know I don’t need to recommend a new Dr Seuss book, because if you’re a reader, you’ll know how good the book will absolutely most certainly be. So I won’t say a thing. Except “read it”!
3. Can you offer a word or phrase that kids could use for inspiration if they have writer’s block?
Onomatopoeia. (That’s all those funny words that sound like something—crash, tinkle, splash, squelch … you can use them to kick-start any sentence.)
Tania’s latest book—Riley and the Grumpy Wombat: a journey around Melbourne—is out now. See more on Tania’s books at www.taniamccartney.com or visit her book character Riley at his own blog—www.rileyaviator.blogspot.com. Make sure you stop by www.kids-bookreview.com for some really cool book reviews and author/illustrator interviews, too!
© October 2011 “Three Quick Questions with Tania McCartney” by Rebecca Newman (Alphabet Soup magazine)
(Psst … see you back here tomorrow, when author- illustrator Mark Wilson answers our Three Quick Questions.)
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