Brassi, G

writers in schools information

Gretchen Brassington is available to talk to students of any age. She is prepared to discuss her experiences as a writer, writing techniques and the publishing process. She is happy to run workshops by prior arrangement, and would prefer to speak to classes of 25-30. She is prepared to travel out of town for visits. 

KAPAI: Kids' Authors Pictures and Information

Where do you live?
Hamilton, New Zealand.

What books do you read?
All kinds. Mostly I read books for kids and teenagers. There's about fifteen of them piled up beside my bed at present. The rest - if I hear a book is good I'll try it, or if I come across a subject that interests me, whether it's historical, a biography perhaps, or a travel story. I've always got books out from the library. Some of them are for research purposes.

Who is your favourite author?
I have too many of them to list. Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley, Jack Lasenby, Maurice Gee and William Taylor from here in NZ - I've been mad about them for years. And I got to meet them; Wow! Fleur Beale is a special friend of mine, and she and I met another author whom I very much admire, an American writer called Richard Peck. We had dinner with him in New York. I was so gobsmacked I couldn't say anything, or eat.

How do you think up your ideas?
They come rushing at me. I have a big jumble of ideas I'd love to write about some time. I'm a slow writer, so I hope I'm going to have a long life. Or get faster.

What is the best thing about being an author?
Making up stories? Hey, that's fun. Well, most of the time it is. And you can't complain about having fun, can you.

What sort of pets do you have?
None. Except we have been bird-sitting the local kindy cockatiel for the last eight years, since he got bad tempered and bitey with the children. And there is the little dog that's dropped off at our place each day because my daughter, her owner, goes to work Then there's the birds that visit the birdfeeders that my husband keeps filled with seed, and somehow four goldfish found our pool at the back of the house, and of course there's that frog that came visiting - but no, officially we have no pets.

What is your favourite colour/food/movie/game?
Colour ~ red with gold stars in it. Food ~ dates and almonds eaten together, or chocolate fudge and caramel ice-cream in a waffle cone with cream and strawberry topping. Movie ~ Tiger Bay. You won't know it because I saw it years ago, before you were born. It's about a girl who saw a murder being committed when she was peeking through someone's keyhole. The murderer found out she'd seen, and she had to hide from him everywhere. It was spooky and real and there was plenty of tension and scary bits. I wish they'd make it again because you'd like it. Game ~ A jigsaw puzzle on Christmas day when the table has been cleared and the whole family and all the visitors help, and we've got to finish it before anyone is allowed to go to bed and everyone's got to yell really loud when the last piece goes in.

What is the most fun thing about being an author?
Reading a book that someone else has written that is so good you never want it to end. Knowing how hard it must be to write that well, and wondering how the author did it. And thinking - maybe one day I might do something like that. Just maybe?

How do you make books?
Aha! The tricky question. Sometimes I start with an idea that is the beginning of a story, or sometimes the end of one. Sometimes I want to write about things that have happened to me, or things that could happen, or places things could happen in. Or interesting people, or treasure hunts or escapes, things like that. Then I weave all the pieces together and tie up all the ends until it's a whole story, and I go back and check it and change it until it feels right. Then off it goes to the publisher.

Where do you go for your holidays?
Ive been into castles that knights defended with their lives, and across deserts where camels carried explorers, and into Hans Christian Andersons house, and over the field where the Battle of Waterloo was fought, and up mountains where the bears and wild goats know all about the little people, and through canyons where cowboys have lassoed wild ponies, and over oceans where the Vikings launched their war ships, - I have traveled around quite a bit and youve just made me realise its time I took another trip.

What was the naughtiest thing you ever did at school?
My best girlfriend and I ate some of the teacher's chocolate biscuits when we were meant to be putting the zip on and setting out their tea cups in the staff room.

How did you get started?
Basically all my books so far, have begun out of something that has happened to me because my curiosity had got me into some kind of strife. I give it a beginning and an ending, twist it into shape with some added pieces, and write it down.

Who inspired you when you were getting started?
My own determination. Some of my family wondered why I bothered, because it was a big struggle. It took me two years of trying before I got the hang of how to write books, but I needed to share the stories in my head so I didn't give up trying. My friend, Fleur Beale, was a big help. She read pieces I wrote and gave me lots of encouragement. She still does.

What advice would you give an aspiring young writer?
Just keep doing what you are doing: living, being who you are. Doing stuff. Piling up the experiences. If you write anything, like a diary (even short bits from time to time), be sure to keep it. Write it from the heart and lock it away somewhere. It'll knock your socks off to read it later. You will be amazed at how much and how deeply you felt things.

Is it difficult to make a living writing in New Zealand?
Yes. I don't write enough to make a living from my books. I'm too slow a writer. Also I spend too much time having adventures to write more books about them.

What were you like as a teenager?
Quite ordinary on the outside, but pretty amazing on the inside. Full of opposites. I went from high to low in seconds. I dented easily, but that didn't stop me from sticking my neck out to get my head chopped off. I didn't want to miss doing anything, but lots of it scared me. I wanted to be the best at what I liked doing, but most of the time that just made me very slow and I got nothing finished. So I didn't appear to be very smart. And the teenager stuff was tough. I had too much raw emotion and not enough experience to balance it. To keep it in perspective. It was exhausting. But, it set me up to be a writer, no mistake about that.

Additional information:
When I was young my imagination kept me well entertained and occasionally got me into trouble. I used to talk myself into believing that the stories I read were true. Like the one about a little fairy creature that wanted to play with human children, so it practiced walking on land (instead of in the air) the same as they did, except it could only reach the ground with the very tips of its toes. So I became a fairy thing too, and walked on my tiptoes for a year and a half without any-one seeming to notice that I'd stopped being a human. That is until I almost killed myself by flying from the shed roof. Then they noticed. So you can imagine the adventures my brother and I had after reading books like Treasure Island and Captain Sinister Sails Again! Being a kid was great fun. Maybe that's why I write stories.