Be brave, stand up for what you know is right, follow your dreams.
5 QUESTIONS FOR SOFIE LAGUNA, AUTHOR OF THE GRACE BOOKS
How are you and Grace similar, and how are you different?
Just like Grace, I loved horses when I was a girl. I have always found them so mysterious and beautiful and graceful. Horses remind Grace that the world is a good and magical place full of possibility and adventure. Maybe horses reminded me of the same thing when I was growing up. I am different to Grace too, though. I am outgoing, I have always loved to laugh and share things with my friends. I am confident in ways that Grace isn’t; I love to put on plays and perform and pretend to be other characters. Grace doesn’t get a chance to discover that side of her personality until she meets Hannah.
Sofie, if Grace were around today, what would she do on Saturday mornings?
Go to a horse-riding lesson with her best friend! And Grace would love picnics – where she can look at the trees and the water and the sky and feel free. Freedom is very important to Grace, as is family. I would hope that if Grace were around today she would find herself in a loving family with brothers and sisters to share her life with.
When you sat down to start the OAG books, what was the first sentence you wrote?
I better get back to the shore before the tide comes in or I’ll be drowned like poor Annie.
What’s one thing you wish you could do really well but have always been too timid to try?
Surfing. I am scared of the waves and of sharks and of being that out of control. But I envy the surfers riding the waves, being away from the streets and buildings and shops and feeling peaceful, feeling brave, feeling powerful and close to nature.
Do you have one piece of advice for OAGs everywhere, Sofie?
Advice? Find creative ways to express anything that feels difficult or scary. Write, draw, make things, perform, play music. Being creative can change the hardest things into wonderful things.
5 QUESTIONS FOR SALLY RIPPIN, AUTHOR OF THE LINA BOOKS
Sally, how are you and Lina similar, and how are you different?
Lina and I are similar in that we both love books and longed to be writers from a very young age. I loved writing stories in English and at Lina’s age, I had a teacher who would often read my work out in class. Also, like Lina, I had a father who was hoping I would go on to university to study to be a doctor or a lawyer, but instead I went to China to study traditional Chinese painting. He was disappointed for a while, but my father is proud of what I do now.
If Lina were around today, what would she do on Saturday mornings?
She’d probably lie in bed til midday and read!
When you sat down to start the OAG books, what was the first sentence you wrote?
Before I began writing the first book, I planned out what was going to happen in the four books in a detailed synopsis. The first paragraph was: ‘Carmelina (Lina) was born in Melbourne of an Italian migrant family. She has two bossy older brothers and one younger brother who she complains about having to look after but secretly adores. The only advantage of being the only daughter in the family is that she doesn’t have to share a room with her brothers, but she does have to share a room with Nonna who is hardy and fierce and doesn’t think twice about giving a wayward child a slap to keep them in line.’
The first line I wrote for Book One made it into the final version: “Lina woke to the sound of the rooster crowing in the back yard.”
What’s one thing you wish you could do really well but have always been too timid to try?
Sing on stage with a band. In another life I would have loved to be a musician.
Do you have one piece of advice for OAGs everywhere?
I love this Oscar Wilde quote: ‘Be yourself, everyone else is taken’. I think it’s a perfect piece of advice for an OAG.
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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2013
Text copyright © Penny Matthews, 2013
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The photograph on page 116, made available by Mrs Beech, is reproduced with the kind permission of Glen Osmond Primary School, Myrtle Bank, South Australia.
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ISBN: 978-1-74253-688-0
School Days for Ruby Page 10