{"id":63055,"date":"2016-08-23T18:09:27","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T07:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=63055"},"modified":"2017-09-13T13:25:04","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T02:25:04","slug":"anna-snoekstra-try-write-non-judgemental-portraits-good-people-really-bad-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2016\/08\/23\/anna-snoekstra-try-write-non-judgemental-portraits-good-people-really-bad-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna Snoekstra: I try and write non-judgemental portraits of good people that do really bad things."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"only-daughter\"<\/a>The Booktopia Book Guru asks<\/h1>\n

Anna Snoekstra
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

author of Only Daughter
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n

Ten Terrifying Questions
\n____________<\/h1>\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 and raised in Canberra, Australia in 1988. I was an incredibly shy kid, probably partly because I had a triple lisp. All the kids in the playground would try and make me say \u201cshe is a funny rabbit\u201d, which came out as \u201cthe is a thunny wabbit\u201d.<\/p>\n

I moved to Melbourne when I was seventeen to go to the University of Melbourne and later RMIT.<\/p>\n

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

When I was twelve I wanted to be a full-time teacher, part-time writer OR an engineer. Turns out I actually had no idea what an engineer was.<\/p>\n

At eighteen I wanted to be a screenwriter\/director\/artist\/novelist\/jeweller\/producer\/academic\/I had no idea.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m thirty I plan to be a full-time crazy cat woman, and spend my days weaving wool out of cat fur.<\/p>\n

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

That the world is a just and fair place.<\/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?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love portraits. Carol Jerrems is a big inspiration of mine, her photographs have an intensity and intimacy that I have always aspired to in my writing. I also love Alice Neel\u2019s portraits. The way she manipulates line and colour to create an emotional understanding of her subjects is beautiful.<\/p>\n

\"Alice

Alice Neel’s Ballet Dancer, 1950<\/p><\/div>\n

Alfred Hitchcock’s films have been a major influence, especially his 1940 adaptation of Daphne De Maurier\u2019s novel Rebecca<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

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

I don\u2019t just write novels. I paint pictures, sing songs, and take photographs. Unfortunately, I am terrible at all those things.<\/p>\n\n\t\t