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Penny Ives

Penny Ives was born in Wiltshire and went to a local comprehensive and then to college in Bath and Bristol. She now lives in Bath and has had several part-time jobs such as lettuce bagging, being a life model and teaching in art schools as she prefers working freelance for her writing and so for a while required another source of income.

She has been married, divorced and then married again. She enjoys walking and reading and spends a lot of time in her garden. She is also very interested in feminism and she still believes that it is an unequal world and that "there are by far too few heroines for little girls to relate to and admire."

PLACE AND DATE OF BIRTH:
Chippenham, Wiltshire 7.7.56

FAVOURITE BOOK:
Elizabeth and Her German Garen by Elizabeth Vonarnim

MOST TREASURED POSSESSION:
Buffalo Horn Bracelet (I didn't buy it!)

FAVOURITE SONG:
Little Sister by Cooder

FAVOURITE FILM:
Orlando

When did you start writing?
I started writing when as an illustrator no-one sent me any jolly stories. I thought I'd better have a go and to my utter amazement, someone liked it!

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?
Things that occur around me. I make little notes of funny things that I hear or see all the time. But of course it may only be me who thinks that they're interesting!

Can you give your top three tips to becoming a successful author?
1. I didn't know I was one but if I was to be one it would be firstly to listen carefully to what extraordinary things people say and do
2. Keep re-writing the story until it can be read aloud without embarrassing the cat
3. Keep trying and don't give up.

Favourite memory?
My son almost falling about with laughter, usually at something slightly rude.

Favourite place in the world and why?
Porthcurro, Cornwall. We've just had a holiday there and the sea was absolutely beautiful and I have heard sharks laze in the water sometimes but not people eating ones.

What are your hobbies?
1. Dancing, I used to be a mad tapper and had ideas of being a dancer.
2. Reading and cooking and then reading and eating.
3. Oh, and walking in the mountains and by the sea.

If you hadn't been a writer, what do you think you would have been?
Oh dear! Well I'm an illustrator too but if not either of those, I'd like to be a gardener.