12 Curly Questions with Krystal Sutherland

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
I was terrified of the dark as a kid. Like, morbidly terrified, slept with the light on every night. I was convinced – well into my teens – that velociraptors were a feasible threat to my safety.

2. What is your nickname?
My little sisters call me Bobby. I have no idea why.

3. What is your greatest fear?
Heights and frogs. A frog jumping on me while on the edge of the roof of a skyscraper would probably literally kill me.

4. Describe your writing style in ten words.
Quirky, witty, playful, full of pop culture and multi-media.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Pyjama enthusiast. Tea drinking fiend.

6. What book character would you be, and why?

I connected very deeply with Hermione as a kid, so probably her. Oh and I used to think I’d totally win the Hunger Games, and then I played laser tag for the first time and died. Very quickly.

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
Oh, tricky! On the one hand I’d love to travel back and meet, say, Leonardo da Vinci… but then I remember that they didn’t have antibiotics there and I’d probably die pretty quickly. So let’s say I’ll go to the future. Visiting the first colony on Mars sounds pretty good. 

8. What would your ten-year-old self say to you now?
'Wait…You mean we didn’t get into Hogwarts? What the hell'

9. Who is your greatest influence?
In my life, probably my parents. My mother is an incredibly strong woman, and I owe my profound love of sci-fi to my stepdad. In my writing, I owe a lot to every author I read when I was growing up, but I probably owe the most to J.K. Rowling, Tamora Pierce and Scott Westerfeld.

10. What/who inspired you to start writing?
The first writer who made me want to become a professional writer was Scott Westerfeld. a) because I loved his books and b) because he lived half of the year in Sydney and half of the year in New York, and I thought that was pretty awesome.

11. What is your favourite word and why?
Oh it changes from week to week! I get words stuck on repeat in my head, and I guess it’s because I like the sound of them. Some of the past ones are: sepulcher, propensity, flotilla, anachronism.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Harry Potter counts as one book, right?!

Krystal Sutherland is an Australian author of YA fiction. Her debut novel, Our Chemical Hearts, is published by Penguin Books. Visit Krystal's website for more information about her writing and author events.