Interview With Jaclyn Moriarty!!!

I'm so sorry we haven't been posting, but guess what!!!!!!!!!!! We have our very first interview with the amazing author Jaclyn Moriarty!!! She wrote lots of awesome books, including Feeling Sorry For Celia (reviewed here) and Finding Cassie Crazy (here). So, without further ado, here it is! (The questions in pink are by me, and Anna's are blue!)

What character from your books would you like to write letters to most and why?

- Actually, I'd like to start a correspondence with Mr Garcia, the History/Drama teacher from 'Dreaming of Amelia'. I've got a crush on him. I'd like to hear from Lydia too, but I think she might get sharp with me.

If you could, which of your books would you transform into? And what would you tell the characters?

- Maybe 'the Spell Book of Listen Taylor', in the part where there's snow in Sydney. And I would tell the characters how unhappy and lonely Listen is, and that they should rescue her, and also that the grown-ups should all grow up and stop cheating on each other. Also, I might steal the book of spells and bring it back to the real world with me.

Or else 'Dreaming of Amelia', I guess, so I could follow up on my correspondence with Mr Garcia. Maybe go get a coffee with him.


Have you ever wished you could turn your books into movies? Which one, and who would play the main character(s)?

- Just about every day I wish that someone would turn my books into movies. I would be happy to see them all as movies, but especially 'Finding Cassie Crazy' and 'Dreaming of Amelia'. I like Ellen Page and Michael Cera a lot; they are both very welcome to be in the movie. Actually, I'd also like to see 'The Spell Book of Listen Taylor' as a movie, and I'd like Joan Cusack in it, as Fancy Zing, and Jennifer Anniston as Marbie Zing, and Dakota Fanning as Listen, and Johnny Depp as Nikolai Valerio.


I thought "Dreaming of Amelia" had a much darker tone than the other Ashbury books, why so?

- I think that each Ashbury book gets a little darker than the one before, so it made sense for the final one to be the darkest. There are gothic elements in 'Finding Cassie Crazy' and 'Bindy Mackenzie' and I wanted to draw them out for the ghost story. I think it's important to look at the shadows as well as the light, and to keep changing the perspective all the time. I hope it is not too dark though, I wanted it to be funny and bright as well, and I think that the ending is bright and hopeful.

Is there a reason your books are written in a varying, scrapbook type style of letters, post-its and school assignments? what made you show Elizabeth's lack of confidence through letters from herself?

- I like to approach a story from as many different angles as possible, so that the truth is always slipping out of reach. I think that a collection of different genres takes us closer to shifting perspectives, and I'm especially drawn to the mystery of the spaces in between documents. The idea of showing Elizabeth's lack of confidence through letters to herself came directly from one of my teenage diaries-- I was re-reading it and saw that I had written whole passages in the second person, saying things to myself like 'You are such a loser!' and 'You are so ugly!'. It was as if somebody else was attacking me, and it made me think about how powerful the critical voices in your own head can be. They're right there so you believe them.


What was your favourite Australian book when you were younger. if you can't think of one,
what was your favourite book as a teenager?

My favourite Australian books were 'Seven Little Australians' by Ethel Turner, and 'Playing Beatie Bow' by Ruth Park; and then I fell in love with everything that John Marsden has written.