Natalie Jane Prior |
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Natalie Jane Prior was born in Brisbane, Australia, and worked as a librarian before becoming a full-time writer. Now a well-established author of books, mostly for children and young adults, her books have been shortlisted for many awards in Australia. Natalie lives in Brisbane with her husband and young daughter.
NAME:
Natalie Jane Prior
PLACE & DATE OF BIRTH:
Brisbane, Australia, 10th November, 1963
FAVOURITE BOOK:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
FAVOURITE SONG:
‘Come into the Garden, Maud’ .
FAVOURITE FILM:
At the moment, I would have to say The Lord of the Rings.
MOST TREASURED POSSESSION:
My engagement ring.
When did you start writing?
As soon as I could hold a pencil and write words.
Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?
Daily life.
Can you give your top 3 tips to becoming a successful author
1. Write and keep on writing.
2. Think carefully about what you write and be prepared to revise.
3. Don’t try and get things published until you absolutely know what you’re writing is of a good, professional standard.
Favourite memory
Getting the acceptance letter for my first book.
Favourite place in the world and why?
My office. Because it’s full of books and other nice things and there is a rose garden outside the door for me to look at when I get bored.
What are your hobbies?
Gardening, sewing, knitting. I like doing creative things. However, I don’t have a lot of spare time at the moment, because I have a small child.
If you hadn’t been a writer what do you think you would have been?
I used to work as a librarian years ago, so I would probably be doing that.
An exclusive interview with Lily Quench herself...
If Miss Moldovia and Captain Zouche hadn't realised you were part of a long line of dragon-slayers what do you think you would be doing now?
I'm not sure. Perhaps I would have run away from Ashby and become a gardener, like my mother. But I think the dragon-slaying blood would have told eventually. It¹s hard to fight your destiny.
If some of our readers haven't met you yet can you give them a bit of an insight into your personality and what you do?
My father's family, the Quenches, have always been the official dragon-slayers of Ashby. Perhaps you¹ve noticed there aren't too many dragons around nowadays. I was never taught how to slay a dragon, and when I was asked to kill one, I ended up becoming her friend instead.
As the official Quencher of King Lionel of Ashby, I fight to protect the kingdom from all kinds of danger. I often get scared on my quests - my mother was a Cornstalk, so I'm only half a Quench, and my Cornstalk side tends to take over at inconvenient moments.
You are close to Queen Dragon - is it hard to communicate with her? What sort of accent does she have?
Queen Dragon has had other human friends and speaks several human languages very well. Of course, when she is with other dragons, she speaks dragon language and you can sometimes hear this in her voice.
What hi-jinks and antics can we expect from you in your latest escapade, Lily Quench and the Black Mountain?
I get to meet Gordon, the son of the Black Count. We see quite a lot of him in the forthcoming books. He¹s very spoiled and has a terrible temper, but I have the feeling he's not too bad at heart.
I'm taken prisoner by the Black Squads and I get to ride on Gordon's new motorcycle, which is very fast and exciting.
Do you get lonely without any family for company?
My grandmother, Ursula, died not so long ago. I still miss her very much. But I have lots of friends who are all fun to be with, and Queen Dragon is very good at looking after me when we get into dangerous situations.
What's next for you?
Lots more adventures! Queen Dragon and I get to travel in time, visit a library that has existed from the beginning of the world, and fight evil magicians in a creepy pyramid on the edge of nowhere. Oh, and did I mention that I learn to fly?
