Note from Lana at Boffins Books:
Luke Thomas was our interviewer when Isobelle Carmody came to Perth for the launch of The Red Queen in November. Boffins Books would like to thank Luke for his exceptional work, enthusiasm and professional demeaner. We'd also like to thank St Georges Anglican Grammar for loaning him out to us for the interview. WIthout further ado, here is the post event write up from Luke ...
The Red Queen is the final instalment of the Obernewtyn Chronicles, and closes the wardrobe to our Australian Narnia. As we know it, at least: the world will be revisited in the Beforetime Chronicles.
I met Isobelle a couple of metres away from the poetry section of Boffins, shook hands, and walked with her to the meeting room. The vibrancy and colour of her books clearly comes from her own character, and when talking to her, the real world seemed animated with the fantastical qualities of Obernewtyn. Her kind and gentle spirit is genuine and at home in young adult and children’s literature.
The interview was relatively short, and much easier with Isobelle than I’d anticipated. She spoke in the interview of viewing authors in her youth as “shining beings on another planet,” and until I met her it was hard not to assume the same thing. Meeting her has humanised authors for me, though there was still a supernatural feeling when later in the evening I used her fountain pen and the reddish ink prepared for The Red Queen. Once the interview had finished, I spoke briefly with Isobelle about writing, and then reconvened with the support-team of teachers milling around the special-order desk.
I had a brief intermission of Isobelle, in which I wandered the city looking for cheap pens, until a socialist protestor in the street directed me towards Target. The pen hunt took a great amount of time, and when I made it to the State Library the book launch was almost ready to begin.
Isobelle spoke about her life, from her upbringing and childhood, to the last days of writing the Red Queen. Meticulously spoiler-free, the night was inspiring and insightful. She offered advice to young writers, as she does in the interview, and shared her own experiences as an author. Particularly, she offered thoughts on audiences, and how a writer should alter their own style to suit them. She spoke at length about her processes and ideas, and how Obernewtyn developed into the series it is now. When the night was over, she took the time to meet her fans and sign their books.
Meeting and interviewing Isobelle Carmody was spectacular, and I couldn’t thank Boffins Bookshop and Perth City Library enough for the opportunity. I’d especially like to thank Lana at Boffins for her hard work in organising and streamlining the process.
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