Meet The Author Who Makes Us Want To Dust
A.J York
What inspired you to write your first book?
I was about to move out of a flat that I had been renting. It was an old place with a room off the kitchen, where the maid would have once slept. I was giving the place a good clean, when I started to wonder who the maid might have been and what her life would have been like. I was disastrously dusting a book shelve when I started to imagine Delilah and her special powers over dust.
When did you start considering yourself a writer?
I guess this would have been after I published Delilah Dusticle, as I started to add writer to my professional profile.
Out of the books you've written, which is your favourite?
I love The Delilah Dusticle Adventures, but my favourite piece of writing I have done so far is actually a poem called The Exhausting Perils of Should. It is about what we feel we should be doing/not doing/thinking/not thinking/being/ not being, etc. I have uploaded it onto Goodreads for anyone to read.
How do you feel about being interviewed by a children's book character? (That's me, Destiny!)
I think it is great! I studied drama at university, so interacting with a children’s book character is a lot of fun for me.
What are you working on next?
I am busily writing Delilah Dusticle and the Cursed Tempest. I have added a sample chapter at the end of book two to whet your appetite.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
The next story is set in India and I am doing quite a bit of research. I have been looking at the landscape, types of storms and what regions they affect. I am also reading up on Indian myths and Hindu gods. It is very interesting and I would love to travel to India one day.
Out of your own characters, do you have a favourite?
The spiders. I am actually quite afraid of them in real life, yet they keep appearing in my stories.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
I still feel very new to writing to be giving advice. The best advice I have received was from another author. She said that I should write about things that genuinely interest me, and not what I think others think I should be writing.
What do you do when you are not writing?
I love hanging out in cafés and luckily for me Gothenburg is full of them. Some cafés have special afternoon tea events, others have piano players and fantastic cakes!
If you had to live in one of your books which book would it be?
I think it would be Delilah Dusticle’s Transylvanian Adventure. I would really like to go to the Hallow Eve Ball and join in with the food fight.
What was your favourite book when you were a kid?
I love Pippi Longstocking. When I was very small I would visit my Grandmother in Sweden and watch Pippi programmes in Swedish. At that time I only spoke English and I had no idea what they were saying. It really didn’t seem to matter as I still happily watched all the episodes.
Anything you would like to add?
Thank you for having me on your blog!
Thank you for joining us! It was good to have you!
A.J York's website: http://www.ajyork.com
Twitter: @delilahdusticle
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/delilahdusticle
