MEET AN AUTHOR QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: Jennifer Morgan

Date of Birth: 14 June 1936

Where were you born and brought up?

Born in Newbridge, Monmouthshire. Brought up all over South Wales – my dad worked in a bank, so my parents moved a lot.

Where did you go to school?

Mainly Blackwood, Newport and Brecon.

What did you particularly like and dislike about school?

Loved: story time (later called Eng. Lit.)

Hated: maths and being kept out ot teams because I was no good at games.

What did you want to be, as a child?

A writer – always.

What was your favourite book as a child?

The Story of Dr Dolittle and The Wind in the Willows.

Do you have any hobbies?

Not exactly hobbies, more obsessions. I garden, walk – mainly over the Malvern Hills – and run a second-hand bookshop for an organisation called Amnesty International which tries to stop cruelty in the world.

What makes you happy?

A great many things. Some examples: sharing a joke with my family; wading through the sea when it’s blowy; eating potato crisp sandwiches.

What makes you angry?

Cruelty or unfairness to children and animals.

When did you start to write?

When I was five – as soon as I could hold a pencil and form letters.

Which one was your first book?

One that I wrote on the backs of old grocery bills (paper was scarce in the war) and sewed together with my mother’s darning wool. It was about a magic wind that enabled hunted foxes to outstrip their pursuers whilst the huntsmen died slow and agonizing deaths in bogs.

Do you find it easy to write?

I find it fairly easy to invent plots and not so easy to transform them into stories – mainly because I want to do so as well as I possibly can.

Where do you write?

On the bus, in waiting rooms, in bed, in traffic jams, but mainly in a little attic room I’m lucky to have, with a wonderful view towards Worcester Cathedral.

From where do you get your ideas?

Sometimes from my own experiences, sometimes from things I’ve heard about or read, and sometimes purely from my imagination.

What advice would you give someone who is starting to write?

Write what you, yourself, would most enjoy reading.

Are some of your characters based on yourself?

I think perhaps Patience in A Wind from the Sea may be.

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Which of your books is your favourite?

I suppose my first published book, A Wind from the Sea, will always be a bit special.

Which is your favourite character?

I have a sneaking affection for Mad Megan in my latest story Mad Megan and the House of Stone.

Is there something you would like to change about yourself?

I’d like to have more patience with technology – the Internet, the microwave and our new digital camera. I’m too inclined to give up and pick up a pencil or buy a disposable camera.

Which are your favourite television programmes?

Alas, our TV broke down nearly a year ago and we’ve none of us got around to ringing the repair man! But I do remember enjoying that programme where you had to choose which building to restore.

What is your favourite food?

Shellfish I’m sorry to say because I try very hard to be a vegetarian. And chocolate of course.

What makes you laugh?

The way people put things on their heads to make themselves seem important – things like wigs, crowns and mortar boards.

Are there any secrets that you’d like to share with the children of Wales?

It’s not really a secret and it’s not just for Welsh children, but I’ve always found it very helpful to remember that when someone’s angry with you it’s because deep down they’re very, very frightened. When you know that, you can stop feeling scared and start to feel a bit sorry for them.