Today Ian Eagleton chats to Kristina Rahim, the author of Max and Ella, Stuck Together and The Doughnut Club…
Before we settle down in The Reading Realm for a chat, what’s your drink and snack of choice?
A cup of Yorkshire tea and a packet of cheese and onion crisps.
Tell us about your book in three sentences and then three words!
Max and Ella, Stuck Together is a book about two families thrown together because of a decision their parents made years before. When Max ends up gatecrashing Ella’s family hiking weekend, things do not go to plan, and they are both pushed to the edge… more ways than one.
Adventure. Identity. Mud.
If one of your characters could come to dinner, who would you invite and what would you cook them? What do you think you’d talk about?
I’d invite Max to dinner, and I’d try and bake homemade bourbon biscuits for him. We’d then listen to our favourite drum solos from bands from the 90s and I’d ask him to teach me how to play some of them. I’m terrible at the drums, but I’ll have fun trying!
What’s the funniest word you know that always makes you laugh?
Dollop. I don’t know why, but it makes me smile. It also makes me want a giant dollop of ice cream.
What’s the silliest or strangest thing you’ve ever researched for a story?
The official rules of a Welly Wanging competition.
Do your characters ever surprise you?
Yes. It usually takes me a few chapters of the first draft to get to know my characters properly. Their personality tends to shine through the more dialogue I write for them, and I often have to go back to the beginning and change how the story starts! It’s annoying, but always worth it in the end.
If your writing desk could speak, what would it say about you?
Why is that pile of paperwork / invoices / randoms notes STILL by the side of your laptop? Look through it and either do what needs to be done or throw it all away please!
Did you like reading when you were a child? If so, what?
Yes, but I don’t think I would have called myself a bookworm. I used to enjoy Judy Blume books and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole was also a firm favourite.
What’s your favourite book that isn’t yours?
My answer to this question changes A LOT. But currently, my favourite is Holes by Louis Sachar. I only read it relatively recently, because my youngest was reading it for school and I loved it!
What book do you wish you could read for the first time again?
One by Sarah Crossan.
What’s the funniest thing a child has said to you?
Would you rather have eat socks for breakfast or trousers for lunch?
If you weren’t an author, what would you be?
The drummer in a band (there is zero chance this would ever happen, as previously mentioned, but I can dream!)
What BAD advice would you give to someone who wants to be a writer?
Writing for children is so much easier than writing for adults. Anyone can do it, so if you’ve got an idea, just do it and I’m sure you’ll get a book deal really quickly.
SPEED ROUND:
Cake or biscuits? Biscuits
Dinosaurs or unicorns? Dinosaurs
Pirates or astronauts? Astronauts
Museums or theme parks? Theme parks
Cats or dogs? Dogs
Summer or winter? Summer
Aliens or robots? Aliens
THANK YOU Kristina for joining us in The Reading Realm today!
