MrL

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= = = = = = = = = = =Thursday 17 May=

__**Shared Book**__

Cloud Busting

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Despite his Mum's insistence, Sam doesn't want to be friends with Davey, he thinks Davey's a first class, grade A, top of the dung heap moron. But one day Davey saves Sam's life and a bond is formed between them. Sam is still embarrassed to be seen with Davey, but little by little he has to admit, when it's just the two of them, Davey is a lot of fun. But then something terrible happens to Davey... Told in verse, in first person, this is the touching story of an extraordinary friendship, that changes two boys lives for ever. An uplifting tale that truly sings out. ======

**Video Conference**
MALORIE BLACKMAN VIDEO CONFERENCE WEST SUSSEX CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2006/7 (Arun Group)

Questions and Answers

A. My love of reading made me want to write my own stories.
 * Q. Why did you become a writer? **

A. When I was 7 or 8 my teacher encouraged me to write stories, then when I was a teenager I wrote poetry about angry, violent things as that’s how I felt then. In my mid-twenties I started writing hoping to be published. For two years I sent off stories and received over 80 rejection letters before I had a book published.
 * Q. At what age did you start writing stories? **

A. All my books have comic bits in them but I have also written funny stories, some for Television. One of the stories was “The Monster Crisp-Guzzler” about a teacher who loved crisps but knew she should not eat them because if she did she turned into a dragon.
 * Q. Do you write any comedies? **

A. Writers who help you to get lost in a book, like Philip Pullman, Benjamin Zephaniah and Jacqueline Wilson; also “Holes”, you must read that book if you haven’t read it yet.
 * Q. Which writers for young people do you think are really good? **

A. I’ve no idea as it is hard to come up with ideas for both the plot and the characters,, but usually, once I’ve started writing the title suggests itself. Originally “Cloud Busting” was called “Fizzy Feet” because, as a little girl, this is how my daughter described her feet when she had “pins and needles”. But the publisher thought this sounded too young for the story, so we changed it to “Cloud Busting”.
 * Q. If you write a sequel to “Cloud Busting” what would it be and why? **

A. It is called “Stuff of Nightmares” and it is a horror story for young adults. It starts with a school theatre trip and a train crash. You will have to read it, when you are older, to find out the rest of the story.
 * Q. What is your next book called and what is it about? **

A. That’s a really difficult question to answer as I like all of them. I would pick out “Hacker”, “Pig-heart Boy” which became a television programme, and, of course, “Noughts and Crosses”.
 * Q. What is your favourite book amongst the books you have written? **

A. The Narnia books, particularly “The Silver Chair” which is my favourite one of the series. I also liked E. Nesbit “Five children and It” and “The Phoenix and the Carpet”. Other stories included “The Secret Garden” and “The Little Princess”, then when I was eleven I started reading adult stories like “Jane Eyre” and stories by Agatha Christie.
 * Q. What was your favourite book when you were a child? **

A. Using my imagination to make up worlds and characters. Writing the first draft is brilliant but then revising the book is a bit more difficult. Also I like all the letters from children and young adults I receive!
 * Q. What is the best thing about being a writer? **

A. My daughter loves Caroline Lawrence, Darren Shan and Jacqueline Wilson. She really likes animal stories, particularly about wolves, so she loved “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” and the Animal Ark series.
 * Q. Which books does your daughter like reading? **

A. My daughter who is now 11 usually reads them and my husband helps me out with ideas, particularly for the new book “Stuff of Nightmares”.
 * Q. Does anyone read your books before you send them off to be published? **

A. Some of the things that happen to Callum in “Noughts and Crosses” happened to me at school, but I am careful not to use the names of friends or things that happened to the, since I upset one friend by using her name for a not very nice character in a book and she was unhappy about it. Now I use a book of “Babies’ Names” to help me choose a name for a character.
 * Q. Are any of your stories based on real-life? **

A. My daughter has a peanut allergy and she used the expression “fizzy feet”, so that’s how I got those ideas. I also wanted to explore what its like to be different, not to be in with the latest fashion, and I wanted to really celebrate being different. It is really important “to be true to yourself”.
 * Q. How did you get the idea for “Cloud Busting”? **


 * Q. We really like the new website and thank you for talking to us. **

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A. Thank you! I really wanted something more up to date, and modern. I’ve enjoyed your questions – enjoy reading the books! ======