Ever since I read THE MAESTRO I've always wanted to meet the author, Tim Wynne-Jones. He has written over thirty books and they are all fantastic, compelling and worthy of very close study. Tim was also my mentor at the Humber School for Writers in 2008 and I had the pleasure of working with him for six months. It was a difficult time because Tim does not mince words, but I learned more about writing in those few months than I did on my own in four years.
Wise, witty, excruciatingly funny and above all, very supportive of emerging writers, his autobiographical sketch is a must read for all TWJ fans. It starts with "When I was three, I ran away from home with a tea cosy on my head..." How can you not read on after that opening line! All his books start with the same wonderful promise and never fail to deliver.
Tim is also a faculty member of the Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults)
Among the lovable characters he's created over the years are Rex Zero in his trilogy by the same name, Mimi Shapiro in The Uninvited, and of course, Burl Crow in the Maestro. The list of awards is too long to mention but check it out here.
Tim's latest novel, BLINK AND CAUTION, is out on March 8, 2011 and has already garnered great reviews. I can't wait to get my own copy!
Here is Tim; the maestro, my mentor and friend;
1) In one word, how would you describe your personality?
Surprised.
2) What is your deepest desire?
To walk around the coast of England with the ocean always on my left.
3) Your greatest fear?
Anything bad happening to my children.
4) Your favourite colour?
Teal, on Wednesdays and Fridays; whatever colour turmeric is, on Sundays; and Burgundy for about an hour on Monday morning.
5) A song you can't help singing along with, every time you hear it?
Too many to mention. I grew up in a Welsh family and we all sing all the time. Right this minute I'm singing Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat, but I'm only hearing it in my head.
6) A movie that made you cry?
Truly, Madly, Deeply.
7) A book you have read more than five times? Or a book that influenced you the most?
So many...but I'd have to say The House at Pooh Corner.
8) From your own oeuvre: your favorite child?
Impossible to say: I might be pushed into acknowledging my three favourites: Zoom at Sea, Some of the Kinder Planets, and Rex Zero and the End of the World.
9) One thing you hate about being a writer?
First drafts.
10) One thing no one knows about you (and now will)?
I'm still hoping to write one really good book.
Thank you for everything, Tim. And I have to disagree with you on answer ten!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Q&Q Writer Series featuring Monica Kulling
I met Monica Kulling at OLA 2010 and it was friendship at first sight! She was signing copies of All Aboard, Elijah McCoy's Steam Engine. An excellent book which I heard Monica read at Word on The Street Toronto last fall, bells, whistles and all.
Monica has published over 26 fiction and non-fiction titles for children which includes picture books, poetry and biographies. You can read about it on her website.
Her latest book, Merci Mr. Dash from Tundra received a great review from the CM Mag.
A gifted writer with two dogs and four cats who lives in TO. Need I say more...read on!
1) In one word, how would you describe your personality?
Fun-loving.
2) What is your deepest desire?
To live pain free.
3) Your greatest fear?
Public speaking.
4) Your favourite colour?
Moss-green.
5) A song you can't help singing along with, every time you hear it?
I’ve always loved to sing. I used to play guitar and even entertained the thought of writing songs and following Joni Mitchell on her world tours. Oh the foolishness of youth! These days I sing whenever I hear a great oldie. Yesterday it was These Eyes by the Guess Who.
6) A movie that made you cry?
Schindler’s List.
7) A book you have read more than five times? Or a book that influenced you the most?
I was not a reader as a child, or even as an adult in my thirties. Consequently, I’m packing in a lot of reading now, but have yet to read one particular book five times. The writer who has influenced me the most is Virginia Woolf. Her daring and her skill always encourage me. She truly is a writer’s writer.
8) From your own oeuvre: your favorite child?
It’s true that the story one has just finished writing shines as the most perfect thing you’ve ever written, until it becomes a book. Don’t know why that is nor how that gorgeous piece of writing morphs into something completely ordinary. So I have two favorites: the story I finished last week about a grumpy girl who finds her smile, and It’s A Snap! George Eastman’s First Photograph because I love photography.
9) One thing you hate about being a writer?
Not making a living salary.
10) One thing no one knows about you (and now will)?
I’m a fan of slapstick. I know … childish. But if you’re going to slip on a banana peel or walk face-first into a clean pane of glass, what am I to do? Or course, in real life, not REEL life, I’d help you out. But watching it on film cracks me up. Every time.
Monica has published over 26 fiction and non-fiction titles for children which includes picture books, poetry and biographies. You can read about it on her website.
Her latest book, Merci Mr. Dash from Tundra received a great review from the CM Mag.
A gifted writer with two dogs and four cats who lives in TO. Need I say more...read on!
1) In one word, how would you describe your personality?
Fun-loving.
2) What is your deepest desire?
To live pain free.
3) Your greatest fear?
Public speaking.
4) Your favourite colour?
Moss-green.
5) A song you can't help singing along with, every time you hear it?
I’ve always loved to sing. I used to play guitar and even entertained the thought of writing songs and following Joni Mitchell on her world tours. Oh the foolishness of youth! These days I sing whenever I hear a great oldie. Yesterday it was These Eyes by the Guess Who.
6) A movie that made you cry?
Schindler’s List.
7) A book you have read more than five times? Or a book that influenced you the most?
I was not a reader as a child, or even as an adult in my thirties. Consequently, I’m packing in a lot of reading now, but have yet to read one particular book five times. The writer who has influenced me the most is Virginia Woolf. Her daring and her skill always encourage me. She truly is a writer’s writer.
8) From your own oeuvre: your favorite child?
It’s true that the story one has just finished writing shines as the most perfect thing you’ve ever written, until it becomes a book. Don’t know why that is nor how that gorgeous piece of writing morphs into something completely ordinary. So I have two favorites: the story I finished last week about a grumpy girl who finds her smile, and It’s A Snap! George Eastman’s First Photograph because I love photography.
9) One thing you hate about being a writer?
Not making a living salary.
10) One thing no one knows about you (and now will)?
I’m a fan of slapstick. I know … childish. But if you’re going to slip on a banana peel or walk face-first into a clean pane of glass, what am I to do? Or course, in real life, not REEL life, I’d help you out. But watching it on film cracks me up. Every time.
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