{"id":150424,"date":"2021-09-02T10:35:59","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T23:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=150424"},"modified":"2021-09-07T17:33:55","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T06:33:55","slug":"ten-terrifying-questions-with-morris-gleitzman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2021\/09\/02\/ten-terrifying-questions-with-morris-gleitzman\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Terrifying Questions with Morris Gleitzman!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Morris<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Morris Gleitzman grew up in England and came to Australia when he was sixteen. After university he worked for ten years as a screenwriter. Then he had a wonderful experience. He wrote a novel for young people. Now, after 42 books, he\u2019s one of Australia\u2019s most popular authors. He was appointed the Australian Children\u2019s Laureate for 2018\u20132019. His latest book is called Always<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we’re thrilled to have Morris Gleitzman on the blog to answer our Ten Terrifying Questions (though, he reckons he’s had worse). Read on …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\"Morris<\/a>

Morris Gleitzman<\/p><\/div>\n

1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself \u2013 where were you born? Raised? Schooled?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was born in Lincolnshire, next to an airforce landing field. Sometimes, when I’m half asleep and I sense ideas approaching, the big ones sound a bit like Lancaster bombers.<\/p>\n

I was raised lovingly and schooled modestly in south London.<\/p>\n\n\n

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twelve, an Australian. Eighteen, a writer. Thirty, a parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who wouldn’t, you need to ask why? I’ll substitute a better question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to do feel about those dreams now, Morris?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grateful I had them, thanks for asking. And even more incredibly undyingly grateful that they all came true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you don\u2019t have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That I would eventually read every book in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. What are three works of art \u2013 this could be a book, painting, piece of music, film, etc \u2013 that influenced your development as a writer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book – The Horse’s Mouth<\/em> by Joyce Cary. Other books – all the Just William<\/a><\/strong> stories by Richmal Crompton. Music – everything by Van Morrison except the tracks with the hammond organ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing a children\u2019s book?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s the one I can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘I wanted to take my hero, Felix, back to where we first met him when he was ten and the world was at war.’<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

6. Please tell us about your latest book!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always <\/em>is the seventh and final book in the Once series. I wanted to take my hero, Felix, back to where we first met him when he was ten and the world was at war. He’s 87 now, nearing the end of a life filled with optimism and hope and his efforts to make the world a better place. In Always<\/em>, Felix helps a ten year old boy called Wassim stay alive in a world that is still at war in many ways. He also inspires Wassim to keep going with his own optimism and hope and world-enhancing efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The characters, I hope, in their hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Who do you most admire in the writing world and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who have to write their first book without payment or encouragement. I had both and it was still hard. To type the final full stop without either is heroic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To one day write my best book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing every main character needs is a problem. They’ll thank you for it as they struggle and grow. They’ll thank you even more if the problem isn’t fatal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for playing!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What? I open my heart and soul and this is just a game?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yep!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Always<\/a><\/em> by Morriz Gleitzman (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kids<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘One thing every main character needs is a problem.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":150444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[13526,715,9512,7394,3064,3777,4212,13527],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/MorrisGleitzman-Social.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150424"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150728,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150424\/revisions\/150728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}