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Jeanne Willis

Jeanne Willis wrote her first book when she was five years old and hasn’t stopped writing since. She has now written over eighty titles, including picture books, novels and television scripts. She has also won numerous awards, including the Children's Book Award, The Sheffield Children's Book Award and the Silver Smarties Prize. Her teen novel, Naked Without a Flat, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award in 2004. She writes with her pet rat keeping her company and often takes inspiration from dreams and interesting conversations with strangers.

When were you born?
5th November in the year of the Pig

What’s your favourite book?
Charlotte’s Web

What’s your favourite film?
Arsenic and Old Lace

What’s your favourite song?
Golden Slumbers (a lullaby)

What’s your most treasured possession?
My granddad’s tie clip

When did you start writing?
I was five (still got the books I wrote)

Where do your ideas and inspirations come from?
Everywhere; overheard conversations, dreams, funny facts

My three tips for becoming a successful author:
1) Write The Gruffalo or Harry Potter
2) Never be jealous of other authors
3) Don’t drop your notebook in the bath

What’s your favourite place in the world and why?
Inside my head because I hate travelling

What are your hobbies?
Cleaning things. Riding horses badly. Reading non-fiction. Collecting insects

If you hadn’t been an author, what do you think you would have been?
A zookeeper or an investigator of strange phenomena, such as the Beast of Bodmin or the Yeti