Just So Stories

Welcome to Just So Stories, Belinda! And how exciting to have you here at last (I have no idea why it’s taken so long really!). But with the debut of another brand-new series, it certainly is good timing.

Let’s start off at the very beginning. Tell us about Belinda the little girl: family (of course, sister Kate), pets, school, mischief or not, favourite things – and, especially, favourite books and authors.

I grew up on the North Shore of Sydney, in a big, rambling old house filled with books and animals. My Dad was a veterinary surgeon, so he was always bringing home orphaned or abandoned animals for us to raise. Everything from snakes, wallabies and possums to ducklings, piglets, ponies, calves and lambs, and of course dogs and cats. My favourites were my pony Rosie, and our Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs Kizzy and Trekka.

Our family were all book-mad and imaginative! We used to read voraciously, then dress up and play the characters from our favourite books. These included Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series, Nancy Drew, C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books, L.M. Montgomery, Little Women and anything about ponies. My Mum always encouraged us to write stories, poems and plays, in hand illustrated exercise books, from when we were very young. Which might be why all three of us are now published authors and very close.

My sister, Kate Forsyth has written about 50 books ranging from children’s stories, fairytale retellings, fantasy and award-winning historical fiction for adults. My brother Nick Humphrey has also published several non-fiction books about business and leadership. So, between us we have published more than 100 books.

As for childhood mischief? I was always adventurous. My Dad used to take us off on country or ocean adventures – riding horses, mustering cattle, helping with animal births, sailing, swimming with dolphins, living on a fishing trawler, wildlife rescue, camping in the wilderness, sleeping in barns and learning to be self-reliant.

I think we all know that there is a long tradition of writing in your family – perhaps you could expand on that for the blog readers. Were you a storyteller all your life? 

There have been many writers in my family, with a tradition stretching back over 200 years. My great x 4 grandmother, Charlotte Waring Atkinson, wrote the first children’s book published in Australia, back in 1841. She was also a pioneer in the fight for women’s legal rights, an artist, botanist and a trail blazer for girls’ education. These achievements have been recognised with a bronze statue of Charlotte being erected in Berrima Park in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, which was unveiled by The Honourable Margaret Beazley, the Governor of NSW in December last year.

Charlotte’s husband James Atkinson was also a published author with his book on agriculture being published in 1826, while their daughter Louisa was the first Australian born female novelist and journalist. I grew up on family stories about these writers, and I am sure that this history inspired all of us to believe that writing was in our blood!

I have always been a storyteller, right from when I was a toddler and made-up adventures for my imaginary friend, to later when I told stories to my brother and sister every night, when we were supposed to be asleep!

If you weren’t a writer, what would otherwise have been your dream occupation? When did you first decide that writing would be your career?

When I was younger, I always wanted to be a veterinarian, like my father, as I grew up working in our vet hospital, healing and caring for animals and helping Dad with surgeries. I also dreamed of being an Olympic showjumper!

When I was in year 12, I topped my school in Extension English and History, but was struggling with HSC Chemistry, Physics and Maths (which I needed to study Veterinary Science).

My principal called me into her office one day and had a serious talk with me about my future. She was the one who encouraged me to study literature, journalism, and creative writing at university, and to pursue a career as a writer. I am forever grateful to her for her wisdom!

You’ve had some hugely popular and critically successful series over your career, and there is quite a range from historical fiction to fantasy, to contemporary to essentially fairy story. They also span quite a breadth of ages from newly independent readers to secondary students. What do you find is the ‘spark’ for each new idea? And for those series that have had numerous instalments e.g. the ‘time slip’ series, how does each one maintain the (always excellent) momentum of those that have gone before?  I would also be curious as to whether you write one book at a time, or have several in development simultaneously?

It can take me a long time (sometimes many years) from the original germ of an idea for a story, to actually writing the book, so I do have different ideas bubbling away in my imagination. I always keep several messy notebooks so I can jot down ideas and story lines as they come to me.

Once I have a strong idea for a book or a series, I start a beautiful notebook where I can keep all my inspiration and ideas recorded together. So, I have literally dozens and dozens of notebooks in my library.

I like to challenge myself by writing for different age groups and in different genres. Usually, I come up with several potential ideas for my next project and I meet with my publisher Zoe Walton at Penguin Random House and we chat them through. She has an incredible knowledge of the industry and trends, so she gives me advice on what she thinks would work well.

With the time slip series, I had so many hundreds of letters from readers begging me to write more books in the series, and it was their passion which inspired me to keep writing more.

With The Daredevil Princess, I came up with several story ideas for the series, and I wrote them one after another. However, there is definitely some overlap, as I might be writing one, while editing another and proofing a manuscript that is due to go to the printer.

The Daredevil Princess… is quite a departure from your other series. What was the motivation or inspiration for this charming new set of characters and circumstances?

I have always loved fairy tales and magical creatures. When I was 22, I worked as a stable girl for several months, looking after horses on a beautiful farm in Northern Bavaria, in Germany. The farmhouse was 400 years old, surrounded by ancient forest and meadows. The nearby town of Coburg had a royal palace, medieval walls, towers, gingerbread houses, and cobbled lanes. I felt like I was living in a fairytale! It was this countryside which inspired my fairytale land of Rosenburg and Blumenfeld.

My heroine, Princess Tillie was inspired by my daughter Emily, who is brave and bold, clever and curious, daring and very determined. When she was younger, she spent her life dressed up in a tutu or princess gown, with her muddy riding boots and usually a sword or a bow and arrow, searching for adventures. Her sassy unicorn, Honey Blossom, was inspired by Rosie, my naughty white pony when I was young, who used to love breaking into our kitchen looking for snacks! Another favourite character is King Edwin, a brilliant scientist but his experiments don’t always go to plan, inspired by my own father.

Following on from that, your books are consistently acknowledged as their top choices by many young readers. How do these accolades fuel your passion, and do you feel they have more import than more, let’s say, ‘official’ awards determined by adults?

One of the greatest joys for me is to meet readers who tell me how much they love my books, and to receive letters and emails from fans. Some readers write to me many times, over several years. Some of the most wonderful letters I have received are from young women, aged between 18 and 20, who write to tell me how much my books meant to them while they were growing up, the ideas they learned from them about the world, and how the young woman they have become was influenced by their favourite books and by me, as their favourite author. These letters are truly special and reduce me to tears! So definitely, the love I have received from readers is the highest accolade I could wish for, and far more important to me, than official awards.

We (Ok maybe that’s just ‘I’) always love to know what does your working day look like? And what does your work space look like? (we LOVE photos if possible!)

My writing workday is at home in my study, overlooking our pretty front garden. I have a beautiful Victorian study, filled with thousands of books, a fireplace and a huge desk, where I can spread out my notes and reference books. The room is painted a soft green – a perfect colour to boost creativity, tranquillity, and joy. I like to work in a calm, tidy and beautiful space! I usually take my dog for a walk, then come back and sit at my desk with a coffee, and start writing. If it’s a good writing day I get lost in my world with my characters and the day disappears, until my husband gets home and entices me out.

I know you love travel. What are your favourite destinations and why?

I have been lucky to travel to many places over the years (I was a travel writer before I was a children’s author) including Asia, Africa, Europe and the USA. In my early 20s, I travelled extensively through Europe and Northern Africa for two years, including working on a farm in Germany, a ski chalet in Austria and in a London ski shop. When my three children were in primary school, we spent two years home schooling and exploring Australia in a caravan. Last year, I was lucky enough to win the Society of Women Writers Di Yerbury Award, which was a writing residency in England, so my husband and I were overseas for five months.

Some of my favourite adventures in England were hiking on the moors (just like the Famous Five), exploring quaint villages (love a thatched cottage) and walking in my characters’ footsteps. I also love literary pilgrimages to visit homes where my favourite authors lived and wrote, such as Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, John Fowles, and Daphne du Maurier. I absolutely love exploring Europe because of the fascinating history, art, different cultures, delicious food, languages, and people. Some of my favourite countries include France (which inspired The Ruby Talisman), Italy (which inspired The Golden Tower and The Silver Sea), Greece, and Germany (which inspired The Daredevil Princess). I love scrambling around archaeological ruins, exploring gorgeous villages, taking photos of my travels, keeping detailed travel journals, learning to cook (and eat!) local dishes and trying to speak the local language.

How do you spend your ‘down-time’? What are your other interests or joys?

Of course, I love reading, especially historic novels and non-fiction. I love cooking for my family and friends, swimming at the beach and walking my dog. I still have my own horse, which I keep at my brother’s farm, so I love to visit the farm to ride my horse, work with the cattle and escape from the city.

What’s next on the horizon book-wise? What can readers expect to be excited about in the coming year?

This is a big year for me, as I have four books coming out, all in my Daredevil Princess series. The first two books are The Daredevil Princess and The Golden Unicorn and The Daredevil Princess and The Goblin King, which just came out. I have been working on proofing The Daredevil Princess and The Fire Dragon, which goes to the printer this week, to come out in May, and I’m currently editing book 4, The Daredevil Princess and the Grumpy Giant. So, over the next few months I will be busy dreaming up more fabulous adventures for Princes Tillie and Honey Blossom.

Finally, if you were asked to describe yourself in a six-word sentence, what would it be?

I am adventurous, loving, and curious.

Belinda, thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your time, and may all good things happen with Princess Tillie, the Daredevil Princess as she bursts triumphantly onto our kids’ lit stage.

Thank you so much Sue for everything you do to support Australian children’s literature and Aussie authors!! You are a star!!😊