Malorie Blackman, Author

What first made you start writing?
A love of reading, plain and simple. I love to read, to be gripped by really good stories that I don't want to put down. I've been writing stories and poems for my own amusement from the time I was seven or eight but in my 20s, I began to wonder if I could maybe write some of my own for publication. It took a while but I finally had my first book accepted for publication in 1990. I've been a full time writer ever since.

How does your day go – how and where do you write?
I write in my attic and I tend to write when my daughter is at school. If I have a tight deadline, once she's in bed, I carry on writing till about midnight. Sometimes later. I generally write straight on to my computer, but I always have a notepad and at least 2 pens in my bag for when I'm travelling.

How do you research your books?
Lots of reading of books and searching the internet for several different sources of information. I never rely on just one or two sources. A number of my books didn't require research however, they were pure imagination.

What's it like seeing your books reviewed in newspapers and magazines?
If it's a good review – it's lovely. If it's a bad review, well that's not so pleasant but you have to accept that not everyone will like your story or your writing. That's just the way it is.

Have you ever reviewed someone else's work?
I've critiqued the work of others in writing workshops, but I wouldn't do published reviews of someone else's work unless I really liked the book. I'd feel very uncomfortable giving a negative review of book written by a friend, so I don't do it.

What's the best review you've ever had?
The best reviews tend to come from the children and young adults who take the time to write to me to tell me that they've enjoyed my stories and why. I know I'm getting an honest opinion from a reader with no axe to grind. Letters where the letter-writer admits that they never used to like reading but because of one of my books they've been switched on to it again are especially dear to my heart.

What's the worst review you've ever had?
Well, I do try to put bad reviews out of my mind but I guess one of the worst reviews I've received was from a reviewer who said of my book, amongst other things, that I obviously didn't believe in 'show don't tell'. That review kind of ruined my day, but I got over it!

What sort of aspects of a book do you think that reviewers should cover in order to make their review fair and balanced?
Reviewers should be honest but they don't have to be brutal about it. No one deliberately sets out to write a bad book. When I'm critiquing a book in a workshop, I always try to state what works in the story before I move on to what doesn't. Reviewers need to state whether they found the characters convincing and the plot in and of itself credible. It's no good saying a book set in an alternative world or in a world inhabited by pixies and trolls for example is not believable. I think that reflects a failure of the reviewer's imagination more than anything else.

Questions from fans

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Anywhere and everywhere. You have to keep your eyes and ears open and take notice of the world around you. Believe me, that way the ideas will come so thick and fast you won't know what to do with them all.

Have you ever felt excluded from society because of your colour?
More so when I was younger when I was told by numerous adults to 'go back to where I came from'. As I was born in Clapham and leaved in Sydenham at the time I wouldn't have had too far to travel! Now I don't feel excluded at all because I don't allow others to make me feel excluded. Life is what you make it.

Have you ever seen discrimination first-hand?
Hell, yes! I've seen it and been the victim of it – too many times to count.

How do you think attitudes to colour have changed - do you think there is less racism, or do you think it just manifests itself in different ways?
I think in troubled times, people always turn to those who are different and treat them as scapegoats for all of society's problems. There are always those who fear anyone different to themselves, whether it's in terms of religion, colour, race, nationality, class, etc. All any of us can do I guess is treat each person as an individual and assume the best of that person rather than the worse until they show otherwise.

Read a review for Malorie's book Double Cross

You can discuss it on these threads:
Double Cross - a place to discuss the book
Malorie Blackman
malorie blackman's noughts and crosses sequence
or Malorie Blackman - your questions at the Book Club message board.

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