Interview with author Kay Woodward

Kay Woodward is the author of several fabulous books, which I definitely recommend to you all! Want to know more about her? Over to you, Kay!

Where did you get your inspiration for Jane Airhead?
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is my favourite book of all time. Whenever I read it when I was younger, I always used to imagine how totally wonderful it would be to BE Jane Eyre and meet the best romantic lead of all time – Mr Rochester. But that would obviously have been a bit tricky given that I was in 20th-century Cumbria and not 19th-century Yorkshire, so instead I decided to write about someone who was as besotted with the novel as I was and still am.

And, for people who haven't read the book, could you tell us more about it?
Jane Airhead is about a girl called Charlotte who simply adores Jane Eyre. The novel is gothic and passionate and features the ultimate hero – Mr Rochester. And that gives Charlotte a top idea: she'll look for a new Mr Rochester for her lovely mum. When Charlotte finds the ideal man, she can't believe her luck. He's dark, brooding and mysterious. In short, he's PERFECT. But the real-life romantic hero also turns out to be sarcastic and rude. Charlotte begins to have doubts. Does she really want to be lumbered with a step-dad like him?

If you weren't an author, what do you think you would be doing instead?
I would LOVE to be a weather forecaster on the telly. Here I am, pretending to be one.

Haha! :) If you had to become one of your characters, who would you choose?
Charlotte Penman from Jane Airhead, without a doubt. She's a little like me already, you see.

Can you tell us more about Skate School and why you decided to write it? I love it and can't wait to read book three!
Skate School is a series of books about a gifted ice skater called Frankie Wills. When she's discovered at her local ice rink by the brilliant Madame von Berne, all her dreams come true and she's whisked away to the Alps to Team GB's super-cool and super-elite training school. But although it's thrilling, it's tough being an Ice Princess...

Skate School was dreamt up by a smashing bloke called Jeff Norton. Usborne Publishing loved the idea and asked me to write it – and I jumped at the chance. I had to do a lot of research, but it's been great fun developing the characters and the storyline from Ice Princess and On Thin Ice to Stars on Ice (which is out in September) and then Going for Gold (which I'm working on right now...).

Can you actually ice skate? I can't! I always end up on my bum...
I actually CAN skate! I can go in a straight line. And – wait for it – I can go round corners too. In fact, I see no reason at all why I won't be able to do a Triple Axel by 2024. ;-)

SPEEDROUND

Reading or writing? This has to be the most difficult question EVER. Writing. No, reading. No, hang on. Rewriting something I've written. And then reading something that someone else has written. Oh dear. Both? Do I have to decide? Next question...?

Tea or coffee? This has to be the EASIEST question ever. Coffee. Tea sucks. Eewwwww.

Lemons or limes? Limes. They're so much more sophisticated.

Facebook or Twitter? Twitter. (With Facebook as a close second.)

Thank you!
Thank you very much Amber.

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