Interview with Lynley Dodd

Name: Lynley Dodd

Date of birth: 5 July 1941

Place of birth: Rotorua

Now living in: Tauranga

What is your favourite food?: I like tasty soups, strawberries, mushrooms…
Do you have a nickname and if so what is it?: No
What was your most embarrassing moment?: There are one or two, but they are too embarrassing to tell!
How do you relax?: Reading and crossword puzzles. Playing the piano (as long as nobody else is listening).
Who inspired you when you were little?: Trees and open spaces. (I grew up in a pine forest.) Lots of animals.
What were you like at school?: I liked drawing and reading. I went to a very small primary school (it had only one room.)
What was your favourite/most hated subject at school?: Art was my favourite subject. I hated Maths!
What was the book you most loved as a child?: I had many favourites. Winnie the Pooh, the Dr Seuss books and Enid Blyton books too…
Which person from the past would you most like to meet?: Two people - Leonardo da Vinci and Jane Austen.
Who is your favourite author/children’s author?: I have many favourites: Quentin Blake, Margaret Mahy and lots of others among children’s authors.
Why did you want to be a writer?: I began as an illustrator and decided I'd like to try writing my own books.
It was HARD the first time.
Do you have a special place where you write your books?: Yes, I have a study upstairs which can get very hot on summer afternoons.
What’s the best thing and worst thing about being a writer?: The best thing is knowing that thousands of children (and grownups) around the world are reading my books.
The worst thing is trying to meet deadlines! (I’m quite good but I still worry about it!)
If you weren’t a writer, what would you like to be?: A musician - but I don’t think I would have been good enough!
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?: Keep trying and never be satisfied with second best.