Getting Personal: Answers

Thanks to everyone who submitted a Getting Personal question!

Paula: If you could live anywhere in the world (money was no object) where would you live?

If money was no objection, I'd split my year. I'd spend the summer in the South of France, autumn in New York, winter in South Africa, and spring in London. This is actually my plan if I become a published writer, although it's very selfish and expects a lot of flexibility from my future husband (and some issues when I have children as I can't really move them around the world four times a year... can I?!).

If you could eradicate the earth of one celebrity that really annoyed you, who would you choose and why?

Now this tough! I don't really like the idea of eradicating someone - it seems a little mean, even if they are an annoying celebrity! *thinks* I'm going to for Russell Brand, and this isn't because of the whole stupid Radio 2 fiasco, it's because I don't get his humour, hate those skinny jeans on him, and I hate the way he lurches around a stage. Oh, and his hair. *shudders* Yep, it has to be Russell Brand (sorry RB!).

Liza: If you could rid the world of three books so no one would ever had to read them again, which books would receive the ultimate shredder fate?

This is like Paula's question above - it seems a little mean! Surely the three books I would choose would be loved by *some* people out there, and they might not like the shredder fate! I will try and answer this though. My first thought was quite controversial, and would be interesting seeing as religion is considered the cause of many problems - what if I said the Bible, the Qur'an and the Śruti? The three main texts for the top three religions... that could be quite interesting, although slightly chaotic... but I'd rather shred Hubbard's stuff than those (sorry if you're a Scientologist)! I think that's my answer - the religious texts (please don't flame me - I'm only curious to how the world will be if part of the so-called "religion is the cause of all evil" obstacle is removed).

Who is your least favorite author of all time?

Sylvia Smith. I read Misadventures and I loathed the fact she got a book deal based on the sort of writing an intelligent five year old could write:

"He took me to the cinema to see a film. He bought our tickets and said to me: 'I must go to the loo. I won't be a minute.' I waited in the foyer and looked at my watch as the time went by. Twenty minutes passed before he came out of the gents' toilet. He was not at all embarrassed and simply said, 'I'm sorry' as he led me in to see the film, which fortunately had not started."

Poetica: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be????

I really want to go to Argentina next, but I think my next holiday will be somewhere in the Indian Ocean: Mauritius or The Maldives.

Agent Elle: What was the first story you ever wrote about?

I found in my First School exercise book a story entitled "The Ten Friends and the Sunken Treasure", dated October 5th, 1992!! It's definitely Blyton-influenced, although I wouldn't have as many characters nowadays (all named after people I knew!).

I also have such wondrous tales as "The Five Friends and the Birthday Party", "Jenny and the Magical Pencil", "The Island of Animals, Trolls and the Four Children", "The Five Friends and the Pirates" and "The Nightmare" in those books! I think I must have been feeling ambitious that day with ten!

Han: I think your story about Geli is cool! What gave you the inspiration for it?

Back in December 2007, I'd finished the first draft of TROG and was about twelve chapters into Tabitha, when I spotted an announcement on Facebook that gave me the idea for Geli. I had already noticed a few random engagement announcements that week, but on that day, one particular announcement caught my eye - this sparked off the idea of a great rivalry between two characters; they became Geli and Tiggy.

I decided it wouldn't be enough to have Geli question her world merely from this, so I gave her apathy towards her career and delved into her love life - the feeling you're "left behind" as everyone gets paired off, even if you have fantastic friends and a nice job. Her boredom was probably inspired by me - I lose interest quite easily in things (apart from my writing!).

I was really itching to go to Durban, South Africa, at the time, so this became Geli's hometown. I didn't want her to be another stereotypical Home Counties girl. I've no idea where the name Geli came from - it just popped into my head, and then I thought it could be a shortening of Angelica as no sane parent would call their child that. Tiggy Boodles sounded like a perfect enemy name. The Boodles surname was sort of a play on the diamond industry - perfect because Geli's dad works in the diamond industry for De Beers.

As for Geli's job, I'd quite like to be a columnist, so that was straight-forward, plus I wanted to use my knowledge on political issues to prove something useful had come out of my degree - cue the creation of Theo. But, the crux of inspiration came from the engagement announcements - you really can find inspiration anywhere!