Janice Marriott
Name: Janice Marriott
Date of birth: 3/10/46
Place of birth: England
Now living in: Wellington
- What is your favourite food?
- liquorice
- Do you have a nickname and if so what is it?
- No nickname
- What was your most embarrassing moment?
- I can’t remember. I don’t remember things that are too unpleasant to think about.
- How do you relax?
- In a bubble bath, or walking on top of hills
- Who inspired you when you were little?
- My elder brother and sister; they always seemed to be doing much more exciting things than I was.
- What were you like at school?
- I didn’t like school. I made good friends there some of them I still have but I hated being inside and sitting down all the time. I guess I was restless.
- What was your favourite/most hated subject at school?
- Favourite would have to be stories anything to do with stories; writing them, or having them read to us. I remember our teacher reading The Hobbit to us.
I didn’t like art, or sewing anything to do with making things with your hands. - What was the book you most loved as a child?
- Anything by Enid Blyton.
- Which person from the past would you most like to meet?
- Harry McNeish, the carpenter on Shackleton’s boat, Endurance
- Who is your favourite author/children’s author?
- Roald Dahl. Every time I re-read him he just gets better and better.
- Why did you want to be a writer?
- I liked telling stories. Writing them down meant I could tell them to more people.
- Do you have a special place where you write and illustrate your books?
- I write upstairs in a tiny attic room that isn’t high enough for me to stand u in. There’s just enough room for a chair and a computer and a small window overlooking a hill.
- What’s the best thing and worst thing about being a writer or illustrator?
- The worst part is that it is a solitary occupation.
The best part is that it makes you think deeply. - If you weren’t a writer, what would you like to be?
- A farmer
What advice would you give to aspiring writers or illustrators?- Read lots of books, and re-read the ones you like the best. Re-read them over and over. Work out how those writers wrote such good books.