Baker & Taylor Interviews: Jacqueline Wilson
Jacqueline Wilson is the author of many book series. Her best known work may be the Tracy Beaker series, inaugurated in 1991 by The Story of Tracy Beaker. There have been three sequels and two CBBC television adaptations: The Story of Tracy Beaker and Tracy Beaker Returns. Baker & Taylor caught up with her to ask a few questions:
1. Your favourite group is Queen, what is your favourite Queen song and why?
I love 'These are the days of our lives' - it's so wistful and wise and Freddie Mercury sang it beautifully even though he was very ill at the time.
2. You have one daughter, have you passed on your love of writing to her?
Emma writes too, but she's an academic, so her books are very learned and quite difficult to read!
3. If you had not been a writer what would you have been?
I'd have loved to have my own secondhand bookshop. I still have happy daydreams about it. I'd certainly have enough stock - I have 20,000 books piled high all over my house.
4. Of all the many books you have written do you have a favourite?
I think I like 'Hetty Feather' the most. It's the story of a Victorian foundling. I've written two sequels, 'Sapphire Battersea' and 'Emerald Star' - and I might well write another story about Hetty at some time.
5. You have received many awards, which one means the most to you and why?
Childline gave me a very special award, which meant a great deal to me.
6. You are a regular swimmer, what do you enjoy so much about swimming?
It's wonderful soothing all-over exercise - I relax totally as I swim, and think up new ideas for stories.
7. Which other children’s authors do you admire and why?
I'm friends with a lot of brilliant children's authors so I find it hard to choose!
8. As a reader rather than a writer do you have a favourite book or author?
My favourite classic books are 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte and 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens. My favourite twentieth century novel is 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath. They're all first person narratives.
9. At the recent Edinburgh International Book Festival you unveiled your updated version of Edith Nesbit’s Childrens classic Five Children and It – Four Children and It, what drew you to this book in particular?
I loved reading Edith Nesbit's books as a child and I particularly admired her prehistoric magical creature the Psammead. I didn't think she'd mind if I appropriated him for a novel of my own.
10. What’s next for Jacqueline Wilson?
I'm busy writing a story set in the Coronation year of 1953 - it should be published next Spring.
