1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
I have boxes and boxes of diaries. This includes books, scraps of paper, backs of envelops anything I can get my hands on at the time. They begin when I was 10 or 11 years old and every so often I add more.
2. What is your nickname?
2. What is your nickname?
As a teen I was called Birdy.
3. What is your greatest fear?
3. What is your greatest fear?
Currently it’s webs spun across footpaths. Breaking one with my face and having a fat spider crawling on me has happened way too many times. I go nuts. Others laugh. It’s awful.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Action-packed, gritty, so-very-risky, authentic, punchy, character-driven.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Obsessed, imaginative, persistent, dreamer, reader.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
6. What book character would you be, and why?
A vampire in one of the Anne Rice novels – I can’t quite say why.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
Far into the future to find out if we ever learn to treat the planet, animals and each other with respect?
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
“You’re boring.”
9. Who is your greatest influence?
9. Who is your greatest influence?
My Greek grandmother. She told me stories, cooked amazing food and always invited hordes of relatives over to her house for feasts. Yet she was so quiet and peaceful in herself, never demanding things in return.
10. What/who made you start writing?
10. What/who made you start writing?
When I was about 10 years old we had to write an essay in school. It was instant for me. Time disappeared. After this I started writing at home on my own.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Tenacity. Being determined and not giving up easily is the best thing I’ve learnt to do.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This question stresses me.
Eleni Hale's debut, Stone Girl, is published by Penguin. In a previous working life she was a reporter at the Herald Sun and a communications strategist for the union movement. She has received three Varuna awards, lives in Melbourne and is now working on her second book. See www.elenihale.com.