Q and A
With cHEwY bear and Benji Marshall
Send your questions to oliver@oliverwriter.com and I’ll answer them here.
Who were your favourite authors as a kid?
I read everything that Paul Jennings and Morris Gleitzman wrote back then. I also blitzed through Roald Dahl’s books too.
Who are your favourite authors now?
Morris Gleitzman is still up there. I love everything Andy Griffiths does. Jeff Kinnely (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) is pretty cool too. I’m also into Charlie Higson who does the Enemy books.
What are your favourite books?
The Tomorrow When the War Began Series by John Marsden is still my all time fave. All 7 books were amazing, along with the extra 3 in the Ellie Chroncles.
Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein, Misery Guts by Morris Gleitzman and the Just series by Andy Griffiths are books I can read over and over again.
What music do you like listening to?
Westlife, John Mayer, Eminem, The Bee Gees, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Lil Wayne, Jason Deruuulllooooo, Matchbox Twenty, All American Rejects…
I list my fave tunes and albums at ‘what’s on my I-pod this week?’ on the right side over there 
Favourite movies?
When Harry Met Sally, The Matrix, The Game, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Serpendity, Fierce Creatures, District 9, Watchmen, Kick-ass, Inception, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
All time fave video games?
Sonic The Hedgehog games (especially the old ones, I like the new ones too, but they’re not as good haha)
Super Mario Brothers 3, Skies of Arcadia (Nintendo Gamecube/Wii), Pokemon White, Advance Wars Series, Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart series
Favourite sports?
Handball (yes, it’s a sport!), soccer and basketball. But I love watching cricket and the NRL.
What teams do you support?
NRL: Wests Tigers, AFL: Brisbane Lions, Tennis: Andy Roddick, Soccer: Arsenal and Germany.
Where do you get all your ideas from?
I feed my imagination with loads of reading. I love reading all sorts of books, so it equips me with all tools I need to write. I also borrow ideas from my friends, kids I teach and just random things I see out on public. Try catching a train and not leaving without some piece of juicy dialogue or seeing a weird guy (don’t talk to these weirdos though hehe).
What was your first book?
Thai-riffic! was my first book, which came out last year. Now I have Con-nerd, which is out now.
Where were you born?
Australia mate, I was born in Sydney. Auburn Hospital to be exact.
Where do you live?
I live in Liverpool, Western Sydney.
Do you ever get writers block?
No, not yet-knock on wood
Got any writing tips?
Yeah, write heaps and write often-it doesn’t matter what you write, if it makes you happy then keep writing…enter comps to gain cred, read heaps of books to get ideas for your own, copy styles that you like so you can grow as a writer, check out Publishers websites because some of them want YOUR stories! And it doesn’t matter how old or young you are-YOUR TIME IS NOW!
