The Great Hall
Interviews
Bookbabblers Interview
Frances was recently interviewed by the online book club Bookbabblers, for whom she is 'Author in Residence' for the whole of May 2012. Read it here.
"Every Thursday I go for a hike of at least ten miles. For some reason I find it easier to think through plot ideas while I’m walking. I’ve got no sense of direction and I get lost all the time, but that just means I discover interesting places unexpectedly."
Reading Zone Interview
During May 2012, Frances is 'Author of the Month' for Reading Zone, the website dedicated to children, librarians and teachers enthusiastic about reading. Her interview for Reading Zone can be read here.
"One of the common ways in which oppressive powers try to control the downtrodden is by stopping them from expressing themselves.
They ban rebellious books and newspapers, arrest poets and journalists who dare to criticise, crush demonstrations, etc.
In Caverna it's one step worse - the poor drudges aren't even able to look angry. Their expressions are always happy or obedient, even when they're miserable or seething inside."
Playing by the book
This interview happened just before Frances attended the Just So Festival, in August 2011. Read the whole thing here on the Playing by the book website!
"Are you conscious of the age of the children you're writing for? Is it a consideration in your choice of language?
FH: I don't find writing for children at all inhibiting. I write for the 12-year-old me. I actually have a lot of respect for young readers, and think they can cope with darker subjects and more complicated plots than some people think. Of course children are used to not understanding every word they read; they're used to looking things up and taking the time to puzzle out new ideas, whereas adult readers are far more impatient."
The Guardian
An interview with Frances mostly about Twilight Robbery, from 12 August 2011. Read the whole thing here!
"Mosca is, admits Hardinge, 'partly me'. 'It's the adoration of books,' she says, citing Alan Garner, Leon Garfield, Susan Cooper and Nicholas Fisk as childhood favourites. 'And I probably don't come across as a particularly angry person but what anger I do have probably gets manifested in Mosca to quite a noticeable degree. There's a strong streak of stubbornness too: she's very stubborn, I'm more stubborn than I look.'"
And also a video of Frances talking about the book!
Books for Keeps
In March 2011, Frances was interviewed by Caroline Sanderson for Books for Keeps. You can read the whole thing here, but here's an excerpt…
"At the end of Twilight Robbery, an uncertain future once again faces Mosca, Saracen and Clent as they leave Toll for pastures new, Mosca declaring herself on ‘borrowed time’ as she decides whether to accept a rather complicated job offer. So can we expect a return for the fly girl, born on the day sacred to Goodman Palpitattle, He Who Keeps Flies Out of Jams and Butterchurns? ‘I do have ideas about what happens next. The territory of my books always stretches out beyond what I actually use, and there is still a sense of the wider realm beyond. So there is probably more Mosca to come. But not yet. And I’m definitely not writing a trilogy. I still don’t know how many books there might be in the series.’"
School Library Journal
Rick Margolis talked to Frances about The Lost Conspiracy / Gullstruck Island, in January 2009. Read it here!
"So what’s with the hats and dressing in black?
FH: I cannot remember a time I didn’t like hats. There are baby pictures of me with hats. I’ve always liked black, but I didn’t start wearing it until I was about 16. I don’t know why I like it so much. I suspect it’s from seeing early episodes of The Avengers with Emma Peel. The hat and I, I’m afraid, are rather inseparable, and I particularly like hats from the 1930s and ’40s. I suspect it’s from watching too much film noir at an impressionable age."
And then Elizabeth Bird, also from School Library Journal, did this interview in November 2009:
"Will there be a Gullstruck Island sequel? The book stands on its own, true, but now I want to know even more about these characters in the future. Any plans to return?
FH: I have no plans to write a sequel, but it makes me happy when readers feel there would be room for one. I hate leaving characters at anything that feels like a full stop. Life simply does not work like that. I prefer to leave the reader feeling that the book’s world and its inhabitants will continue after the last page, and that this is not the end of their story."
Write Away
Frances was interviewed by Nikki Gamble from this website in January 2008, mostly about Verdigris Deep / Well Witched. Read the whole thing here!
"I've noticed that your writing is multi-sensory and in particular the sense of smell is frequently referred to.
Smell does evoke a sense of place quite strongly. Funnily enough, one of the sensory elements I have to remind myself about is actually temperature, because my personal sense of temperature is extremely poor. I don’t tend to notice it. So I often have to remind myself to include such things so that my characters aren’t similarly afflicted."
