Nickie's Ten Questions to Joanne Harris

Who hasn't watched the film 'Chocolat' with Johnny Depp? A great film, based on the novel by Joanne Harris. The author lives partly in France and partly in England.

As I'm quite friendly with Christopher Fowler, another British author, I happen to know that Joanne and her family used to have a house near that of Chris in the south of France, and that one day she asked him to read through a manuscript of hers. He thought it was good, and so he showed it to his agent. The result? The agent offered Joanne a contract and broke the contract with Chris... you see what happens when you're a good neighbour!

Nevertheless, I contacted Joanne and asked her if she wanted to answer some of my questions.

Here's what she answered:

1. You are half-French, half-English. In which language were you raised?

Both.

2. You used to be a teacher. Did you like the job, and can you tell us what were the positive/negative sides to it?

Yes, very much. In many ways I was sorry to leave. What I liked about teaching was the stimulus (and the fatigue!) that comes from interacting with so many people every day; from constantly dealing with the unexpected; the eternal challenge of youthful, intelligent high spirits.

3. When did you first find out you wanted to be a writer?

As soon as I made the connection between the books I was reading and the names on the spines.

4. How many books must an author write, before he or she can earn some money?

How many roads must a man walk down..?

5. Was your book, The Evil Seed, in any way inspired by Christopher Fowler’s Red Bride?

No, but it could have been…

6. How does it feel when you find that someone was interested in obtaining the film rights to one of your books?

Wonderful; scary; exhilarating; surreal.

7. You have published a cookery book with popular French recipes. Which is your favourite?

It depends on the season; although I drink the spiced hot chocolate all year round!

8. Would you give your soul for a piece of chocolate?

Certainly not. Now if you’d said two pieces…

9. England or France?

England to live; France for holidays.

10. Favourite authors?

Mervyn Peake, Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Christopher Fowler, Charles de Lint, P. G. Wodehouse, Angela Carter, John Wyndham, Vladimir Nabokov, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, John Mortimer, Guy de Maupassant, Albert Camus, Gustave Flaubert, Louis Pergaud.