From Niven's Q & A at the Guardian:
This one’s for all the aspiring writers on the Guardian children’s books website: what was the reason you became a writer in the first place?Visit Jennifer Niven's website.
I became a writer because writing has always been – for all my life – the thing I love to do most. I write because I can’t not write. I write books I want to read. I was lucky enough to grow up with a writer mom, who taught me that I could be or do anything I wanted to be or do. I’m an only child, and when I was a little girl, we used to have “writing time.” From her, I learned to find the story in everything, and I learned never to limit myself or my imagination. I also saw firsthand how difficult and stressful and unpredictable the business was. And I saw the commitment it took. I’m grateful for that because I think so many people go into the business of writing with unrealistic expectations – not realising that it is, in fact, a business, and that you have to be ready and willing to do it in spite of everything else.
As you are a new YA author, if you were on a desert island which three items would you take and why?
I’d like to take my fiancé and three...[read on]
Writers Read: Jennifer Niven.
--Marshal Zeringue