Getting to know our shortlisted authors: Allison Rushby
Over the last few weeks we’ve been introducing you to the six shortlisted authors on the Readings Children’s Book Prize 2015. (Meet the other five authors here, here and here.) Who are they? Where do their ideas come from? What do they love to read? What do they love to snack on?
We hope you’ll share these mini interviews with your children.
MEET ALLISON RUSHBY
which is about three teenagers in 1920s London, and a romance set in Paris called
Beneath Beautiful
.
How To Save The Universe In 10 Easy Steps
is her first book for 8-12 year olds.
Allison confesses that she is crazy about Mini Coopers, Devon Rex cats and Downton Abbey.
1. What were you like as a kid?
I was one of those kids who always had her nose in a book, of course!
2. When did you first want to be a writer?
Perhaps because my mother is a writer (Pamela Rushby), it wasn’t such an active choice for me. It was something that was always happening in our house – it was something that you just did! So, I wrote from when I was little, right through primary school and high school and then moved straight into studying Journalism at university and kept on going from there.
3. How did your shortlisted book begin? What was that first seed?
How to Save the Universe in 10 Easy Steps was a funny little idea that came out of a conversation with my son (Ted, 8), who said, ‘You don’t write books for people like me!’ (okay, so it was less of a conversation – I was ‘told’!). He’s now requested a sassy cat book, which I’ve started writing. I’m just going to let him make all the writing decisions from now on.
4. How did the book get its contract?
After I was ‘told’ by Ted, I thought about his request and jotted down ideas for a story now and then. When I finally had an idea that made me laugh, I wrote it up into a synopsis and then wrote a partial of about 50 pages to go with it. I’ve been lucky enough to work with several Australian publishers since first being published by Random House in 2000 and so I sent the partial and synopsis around myself to some previous contacts. I had immediate interest – I think humorous books for boys and girls of this age can be hard to come by and publishers are always on the lookout for this kind of material. Because of this interest, I had my US agent, Sara Megibow (then of the Nelson Literary Agency and now of KT Literary) contact the agency’s then foreign agent, Whitney Lee of the Fielding Agency. Whitney took over the negotiations from that point. I sent around that initial partial and synopsis at the end of October 2012 and we received an official offer from Allen & Unwin exactly one month later.
5. What is your favourite scene in the book?
I think it would have to be when Molly first tells Cooper that she’s not his twin sister. The expression on the front cover of the book shows his feelings on this perfectly (the illustrator is Martin Chatterton and he did the most amazing job on the illustrations).
6. What were some of your favourite books when you were a kid?
I was a huge fan (and still am) of so many of the older English books. I still re-read lots of them regularly like Rumer Godden’s The Dolls’ House, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle and Noel Streatfeild’s Shoes series.
7. What was the last book you loved?
I’ve just finished re-reading all the Paddington books after seeing the movie with my kids. I’d forgotten how lovely they are. I really enjoyed reading them again.
8. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
To keep writing books that I’d like to read. I don’t really like to think much beyond that, because so much about writing books is out of a writer’s control (publishing deals and movie deals and so on…). All I can control is the writing of the books part, so it’s best to focus on that.
9. If you won the RCBP, who is the first person you would tell and how would you celebrate?
It would have to be my husband and kids (we’ll pretend they’re one person). We’d probably go out for dinner and dessert would definitely have to be involved.
10. What is your preferred writing snack?
I’d like to say chocolate, but it gives me headaches (the cruelty of this is unimaginable because I love chocolate!). The truth is, I’m more likely to get desperate and sneak those little packets that go in school lunchboxes, so it’s usually rice crackers, Tiny Teddies or Barbecue Shapes!
