Hi M@x!

G'day from the last days of a Tasmanian winter! The sun is shining, and I've been out for a walk with Ace and Jeanie, two of our Jack Russell Terriers. So I hear you want me to answer a few questions. Well here goes!

Did you always want to be a writer?

I think I have always been a writer. I started writing stories when I was six and have never stopped.

What other jobs have you had?

I was a teachers' aid for 18 months, and also "shop-sat" for an Electrician when his usual receptionist was away. Apart from writing, I am a manuscript assessor and I tutor workshops in schools, libraries and anywhere else that comes along.

How many of your books have been published?

It's around the 250 mark by now. You can find a list of most of them at http://sallyodgers.50megs.com/booklist.htm

Do you have a favourite place where you work on your books?

Mostly, I work in our house, but if I'm away I work anywhere - motel rooms, other people's houses, libraries, airports... My favourite place to work on books is down by the river, where my husband and I go to plot our Jack Russell: Dog Detective books.

Where do you get your ideas for books from?

The ideas often come from real life. We wrote Jack Russell: Dog Detective - The Sausage Situation after the first in the series (Dog Den Mystery, which was published as "Dognapped" in the UK) was launched at a school. Fat Molly, from "The Lying Postman" (Published as "Beware of the Postman" in the UK) was invented after we met a real cat with that name.

Even fantasies and science fiction novels have their roots in reality of some kind.

How long does it take you to write a book?

That depends on the length. A Jack Russell book usually takes about ten days, while a longer novel like "Candle Iron", might take a couple of months.

Do you have any favourite children's authors or books?

Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favourite authors. Other favourite books include "Polymer" by Sally Rogers-Davidson, "The Perilous Gard", by Elizabeth Marie Pope and some older books by authors like Monica Edwards and Geoffrey Trease.

Which one of your own books is your favourite?

That's difficult! I love the long fantasies and Sci-fi titles such as "Candle Iron", "Shadowdancers", "Translations in Celadon", "Trinity Street" etc, but I am also fond of some of my little reading scheme stories, such as "The Pocket Unicorn", "In the Blink of an Eye","Hector's Garden" and "Raffina". The Jack Russell series is great fun. I love working with my husband and our dogs on those. "The Awful Pawful" is my favourite so far,

What have you been working on recently?

We just finished Jack Russell #7, provisionally titled "The Biscuit Mystery", and will soon be writing Number 8. I have also been working on a series of novels about some characters called "The Arkies", who explore other planets.

Have you any words of advice for young writers in Devon?

Yes! Learn how to write proper sentences. Learn how to spell. Don't EVER rely on a spell checker. It will help you with words like wsa or hte, but it WON'T help with mistakes like the ones in the following sentences.

He is afraid he will loose his way.

OR

She lead the weigh to town.

Once you have the basic skills of sentences, paragraphing, punctuation and spelling, then you can concentrate on writing wonderful stories that people will actually WANT to read.

By the way - I live about 11 km from a city called Devonport!

Best wishes

Sally Odgers.