{"id":17540,"date":"2011-08-12T09:15:49","date_gmt":"2011-08-11T23:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=17540"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:51:04","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T23:51:04","slug":"em-bailey-author-of-shift-answers-ten-terrifying-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2011\/08\/12\/em-bailey-author-of-shift-answers-ten-terrifying-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Em Bailey, author of Shift, answers Ten Terrifying Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Booktopia Book Guru asks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Em Bailey<\/strong><\/h1>\n

author of Shift<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ten Terrifying Questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

————————-<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

I was born in Melbourne and my family moved to various places while I was growing up, including Canberra, Adelaide and rural Victoria. Eventually we came back to Melbourne where I finished high school.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>I\u2019m not sure what my ambitions were at twelve but at five I wanted to be a tight rope walker \u2013 because I thought this meant I would get to wear a tutu and carry a frilly pink parasol. I was heavily into frilly pink things at the time you see. At eighteen I wanted to be an artist because by then I\u2019d moved on to wearing black and looking serious. By thirty \u2013 after way too many years at art school \u2013 I realised that what I actually wanted to be was a writer.<\/p>\n

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That despite my clear lack of talent I would some day make it as an artist.<\/p>\n

4. What were three works of art \u2013 book or painting or piece of music, etc \u2013 you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can only think of one, but it was an important one. When I was about seven my dad had a non-fiction book published. It was called Australian Horse-drawn Vehicles<\/em> and I was over-awed by the magnitude of his achievement. My dad had written a book and it had been published. The fact that the subject matter was of no interest to me whatsoever was irrelevant. I remember staring at my dad\u2019s photo on the dust-jacket and reading the blurb that described how he was \u201cmarried, with two children\u201d and feeling all tingly with pride that I was one of those two children. I think I took Australian Horse-drawn Vehicles<\/em> with me to school for Show and Tell about fifty times and it certainly made me feel that getting a book published was achievable and even something that I might do myself one day.<\/p>\n

5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sadly, I don\u2019t think there actually are innumerable artistic avenues open to me. If my earlier career plans had come to fruition I guess I could have painted my ideas instead. Or \u2018tight-roped\u2019 about them. But as it is I have no choice but to write.<\/p>\n

6. Please tell us about your latest novel\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Shift<\/em> <\/a>is a YA psychological thriller that examines such themes as identity, loss and toxic friendship. It is told from the point of view of Olive Corbett \u2013 once part of the in-crowd at school, now overweight, reclusive and mentally fragile following the disintegration of her family life. When strange rumours start circulating about the soon-to-arrive new girl – Miranda Vaile – Olive and her (only) friend Ami initially seize upon this as a chance for some mindless distraction. But before long Olive starts to wonder what the hell is going on with Miranda. Bad things just seem to keep happening to the people around her.<\/p>\n

Here is the official blurb:<\/p>\n

Olive Corbett is definitely NOT crazy.<\/p>\n

Not anymore. These days she takes her meds like a good girl, hangs out with her best friend Ami, and stays the hell away from the toxic girls she used to be friends with.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t need a boyfriend. Especially not a lifesaver-type with a nice smile. And she doesn\u2019t need the drama of that creepy new girl Miranda, who has somehow latched on to Olive’s ex-best friend.<\/p>\n

Yet from a distance, Olive can see there’s something sinister about the new friendship. Something almost… parasitic. Maybe the wild rumours ARE true. Maybe Miranda is a killer.<\/p>\n

But who would believe Olive? She does have a habit of letting her imagination run away with her\u2026<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Mostly I\u2019m simply hoping that my readers get an enjoyable chill from reading Shift<\/em> and that they have some fun trying to work out what is going on with Miranda. But there are some serious themes in Shift<\/em> too \u2013 ones to do with identity and self-acceptance and getting back on your feet after life has tripped you up. If my YA readers get something out of these themes I\u2019d be very happy.<\/p>\n

8. Whom do you most admire in the realm of writing and why<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

The person I currently admire the most is an author friend of mine, Chrissie Keighery, whose latest YA novel \u2013 Whisper<\/em><\/a> – I\u2019ve just finished reading and loved. Whisper<\/em> is the story of Demi \u2013 a teenaged girl who has been rendered deaf by an illness. Suddenly Demi finds herself shut out from her old life and her old friendships and she has to start redefining who she is. Having recently moved to Germany \u2013 but not speaking any German \u2013 this novel really resonated with me. I sometimes feel just like Demi as I walk around, not having the faintest clue what is going on around me! Not only is Whisper<\/em> an incredibly beautifully written novel but Chrissie is an inspiration because she somehow manages to write while juggling a very busy life. She is also a tremendous writing buddy.\"\"<\/a> Sally Rippin inspires me in similar ways \u2013 and her latest book Angel Creek<\/em><\/a> is gorgeous.<\/p>\n

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

My goals are very dull. I plan to keep working at my writing and improving my skills.<\/p>\n

10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of \u2018pitching\u2019 ideas to friends and family. This always helps me figure out what is working with an idea and where the \u2018holes\u2019 are. I find that if I can\u2019t describe my idea to someone in a way that is interesting then I generally can\u2019t make it interesting when I write it down either. I\u2019d recommend finding someone who is a patient listener\u2026 or lock the door so they can\u2019t escape!<\/p>\n

Em, thank you for playing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shift<\/em><\/a> is the first YA novel from Em Bailey<\/em>, also known as established Australian children’s author Meredith Badger<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Em Bailey author of Shift Ten Terrifying Questions ————————- 1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in Melbourne and my family moved to various places while I was growing up, including Canberra, Adelaide and rural Victoria. Eventually we came back to Melbourne where I finished high school. 2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4,85],"tags":[1807,3653,4834,5184],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17540"}],"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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57653,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17540\/revisions\/57653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}