[\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Do you have any kids?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16.1″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Yes, I have two boys, currently aged 15 and 18.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Do you have any pets?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Yes, I have a border collie. His pen name is Procrastipup. He\u2019s very cute. He’s a bit bigger than this now, but this is one of my very favourite photos of him.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Did you always want to become a writer?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n No, I wanted to be a famous actor. But then I discovered that most actors spend a lot of their time waiting on tables, and I wasn\u2019t a very good waiter. So I became a journalist instead.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Why did you become a writer?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n I discovered it was the one thing I was really good at. Also, the one thing I like to do the most.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”When did you start writing books?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t really start until I was in my mid-20s. I wrote things at school, and even had a poem about the ANZACS published in my local paper when I was 10, but I didn\u2019t realise I could be an author for a long time. I thought it was something that other, much cleverer, people did. Then one day I decided to have a crack to see if I could.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”What’s your best adviCe for young writers?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Have a crack to see if you can. If you don\u2019t try, you\u2019ll never know. And remember that writing is fun. Don’t get so worried about getting it right that you lose sight of that!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_toggle title=”When was your first book published?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Unfortunately, that\u2019s a secret!\u00a0My first book was ghost-written for someone else and I can\u2019t tell you any more about it than that. I CAN tell you that my first novel for children was published in October 2014 and was called\u00a0The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race To The End Of The World<\/em>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Do you have any new books coming out?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16.1″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n My latest novels are THE FIRE STAR (Maven & Reeve #1) and THE WOLF’S HOWL (Maven & Reeve #2). I hope to have news about some new works soon!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Where do you get your ideas from?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16.1″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n As a journalist, I\u2019ve learned to listen hard to what people are talking about, to take note of things I read and to think hard about what I see. Ideas are all around us and writers are people who\u2019ve trained themselves to see them.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Where dO you get YOUR IDEAS?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n All of my books come from a question and a feeling. I’ve put a little overview below of how each of my series came to be… <\/span><\/p>\n THE MAPMAKER CHRONICLES<\/strong> \u201cHow far does space go?\u201d asked Mr12 (then nine), one night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNobody knows,\u201d I answered.<\/span><\/p>\n Then the next night, he asked: \u201cHow did they map the world?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell, they had to go out there and find out,\u201d I answered, distractedly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey must have been brave,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey were,\u201d I said, having a moment of Mum Inspiration. \u201cThey would have felt exactly the way we feel when we look out into space, not knowing how far it goes or what\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And just like that, in my mind I saw a race to map the world, and a boy who really didn\u2019t want to go.<\/span><\/p>\n THE ATEBAN CIPHER<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This series was inspired by a tiny newspaper article about a mysterious old book that was found in an attic in Poland more than 100 years ago. It’s called The Voynich Manuscript and for 100+ years, people have been trying to work out what it’s all about because it’s all written in code…<\/p>\n So the question was: Why would you write a book that noone can read?<\/p>\n The feeling that inspired THE BOOK OF SECRETS was the one I experienced when I went all the way to Dublin, Ireland, to see The Book Of Kells, another very famous old book. It is so beautiful that I just wanted to take it home.<\/p>\n I really wanted that book.<\/p>\n But I didn’t think the guards would be very happy if I did that… so, many years later, I wrote about a very beautiful old book that EVERYONE wanted instead.<\/p>\n THE FIRE STAR (A Maven & Reeve Mystery)<\/strong><\/p>\n The original idea for the Beech Circle, which is a secret society in THE FIRE STAR, came from another newspaper article, this time about a farmer in the UK who had discovered that what he’d thought was a rabbit hole in his field was actually the entrance to a whole underground cavern…<\/p>\n Which made me start to think about what kinds of people might need a secret place like that to meet.<\/p>\n The feeling for this story has been with me for a long time. I have always loved mystery stories, even as a kid, and I still do. There is nothing like trying to work out the answer to the mystery before it’s revealed by the author at the very end. I always liked to try to outsmart the author.<\/p>\n Now I’m<\/em> the author, and I’m trying my best NOT to be outsmarted!\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Where do you write?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16.1″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n I write in my study. I’m very lucky to live in the country, by a big, beautiful river, and have my own room for writing. But I have been known to write in my car, at the beach, watching my boys do swimming lessons… anywhere, really.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”What do you use to write your books?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16.1″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n I write my novels on an Apple computer, using Microsoft Word and sometimes Google Docs. I also write on my phone and my iPad if I’m out and about, because sometimes you just need to get the idea down!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”How do you write a book?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n I usually try to avoid answering this question because the answer is so\u2026 dull. The truth is that the only way to write a book is to sit down and write one. You write and you write and you write. It takes a long time and a lot of practice to learn how to do it right.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Can you help me with my writing?” open_toggle_background_color=”rgba(191,205,220,0.35)” closed_toggle_text_color=”#232323″ closed_toggle_background_color=”#ffffff” icon_color=”#fb423a” open_icon_color=”#fb423a” _builder_version=”4.16.1″ title_text_color=”#232323″ title_font_size=”15px” body_font_size=”17px” custom_margin=”||13px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ body_font_size_tablet=”16px” body_font_size_phone=”” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” border_color_all=”#bfcddc” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n I don’t read manuscripts or stories but I can help you with your writing in other ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n For kids<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are aged 9-14<\/strong>, I have an online creative writing course<\/a> just for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For adults<\/strong><\/p>\n If you’d like to be a children’s author<\/strong>, you can find out some top tips here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Join my online writing group<\/strong><\/a> for inspiration, information and motivation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Procrasti-Pup2.jpg\")
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Both of my boys are\u00a0fans of the \u2018head-hurting\u2019 question. We have long-and-involved conversations about where space ends, how high the stars are, whether there are any places in the world that remain unexplored, which dwarf from\u00a0The Hobbit<\/i>\u00a0I would invite to a dinner party\u2026 you get the idea.\u00a0Several of those chats, close together, led to an idea that made me tingle all over.\u00a0<\/p>\n