I finally got to meet Alison Evans at a YA author catch-up in Melbourne recently (hey Alison! *waves*), and apart from being a really good sport about answering our slightly dopey questions here on bookclub, they also have the same weapon-of-choice-in-a-zombie-apocalypse as me, so we are now fast friends
Please read on to find out more about Alison, the possible alternative title for IDA, and how the book would fit perfectly into a rainy-day bush tea party in the Dandenongs…
Why this book? Why this story?
I love sci fi and I wanted more with queer characters in it! I am also really scared of doppelgangers and so I thought: why not write a whole book about the thing I am scared the most of? What a good plan!
Your book has been the basis for the development of a themed party. What’s the party like and what’s on the menu?
The theme we’re going for is rainy Dandenongs bush tea party so: everything is grey, grey-blue, grey-green and fern green. We’ve got a mirror-glaze cake that is swirls of the colour scheme, a few different types of tea, scones. The decorations are gum leaves and wispy white drapes.
Okay –three hot books you would run in to save if your house was burning?
My copy of Ida. I get people to sign it when I sign their books, and there’s so many memories inside it! I would also choose In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black and Night Swimming by Steph Bowe, because I love them both so much.
Your book has a title, and it’s an awesome title. But what might it have been called, if it wasn’t called what it is now?
In the first draft, it was called Ida Lost, but then I thought it may have been too reminiscent of Paradise Lost, and I wasn’t sure what implications would be drawn, so I just dropped the Lost.
The zombie apocalypse strikes, but it’s okay, cos you have your choice of weapons, and you choose…
I would choose a machete, I think. It’s quiet, and sharp. But also I know I would die almost immediately because I am very unfit and also scared of everything.
Alison, thanks for joining in our author interview! (and it was really lovely to meet you the other day 🙂 ). Folks, I hope you have the chance to meet Alison, and remember that our book discussion post for IDA is coming up fast at our FB group, so keep your ear to the ground.
Have a good week, and talk again soon!
xxEllie