We were very excited when one of our favourtie authors Cornelia Funke came into the shop recently to sign all her books for us. Not only was she charming, but also very smart and quick witted! Cornelia took some time to answer our short questionnaire all the way from Moscow and it throws some new light on this amazing author of the Inkheart series and her new book, Reckless.Q: What was your favourite book when you were young?
Tom Sawyer, the Narnia books and Michael Ende's JIM KNOPF books
Q: Do you have a current favourite book , author or illustrator? If yes, who?
Neil Gaiman is my favourite at the moment. I listened to his books while I was illustrating Reckless and loved every second of it. I'm not even able to decide which of his books is my favourite!
Q: Which of your characters did you most enjoy writing?
I enjoy writing all my characters. Otherwise I wouldn't put them in a book. They are of course all fun in very different ways. Some make you laugh, others make you feel adventurous or curious about them. And in some ways they are all part of me.
Q: Did you always want to be a writer and illustrator?
No, at 11 I wanted to be an astronaut and then later on a pilot. I was a social worker and recorded my own audio books, I also worked on movies but being a writer is for me still the most magical thing and much more wonderful than anything I ever imagined to do.
Q:If you weren't a writer and illustrator, what would you want to be and why?
I have no idea, I guess I would first of all get my pilot's license :)
Q:Are you working on anything new at the moment?
Of course :) I can't live without writing. I am deep into Reckless part 2.
Q: If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be and why?
I think I would choose to be a dragon. I don't think I have to explain to anyone why. What can feel better than flying with the wings and strength of a dragon?
Q: You have twenty-fours hours to do whatever you want. What would you do?
Write :)!
