Hannah Tunnicliffe
Author Interview - Hannah Tunnicliffe
Author I draw inspiration from: So many! Too many to list comprehensively but here are some of my all stars - Barbara Kingsolver, Ruth Ozeki, Marcus Zuzak, LM Montgomery, Polly Horvath and Patricia Grace.
Favorite place to read a book: Okay, this is hazardous... in the bath. All my favourite books are buckled and misshapen from taking an unexpected wash along with me. My childhood copy of “Anne of Green Gables” is basically beyond repair.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Sugar, from “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar” by Cheryl Strayed. I know Sugar is really author / memoirist Cheryl Strayed, who dishes out the perfect, frank, sincere and heartfelt advice but Sugar feels like a character. She’s soft and sweet but also clear as bell; she’s the favourite Aunty you always needed. Long enough in that elevator and Sugar could solve my entire life; I’d come out a changed woman.
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I’ve always wanted to be an author, the same way I’ve always a flying carpet. Both ideas seemed possible at eight years old, impossible by about twelve and then when I was in my late twenties I finally had the time to match my inclination to write. It began as a loopy idea, a madcap and preposterous project, I never really dared imagine I’d be published. The boundaries of possibility might be further than you think...
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Hardback if at all possible. Utterly impractical, thoroughly tangible.
The last book I read: “Big Bones” by Laura Dockrill, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Truman Capote.
Pen & paper or computer: Computer.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: I’d be so upset if Anne Shirley Cuthbert Blythe and I weren’t kindred spirits.
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: I was a Director of Human Resources, so I guess, in all practicality, I’d be that? Scrap that - I’d be a tea sommelier or fortune teller or basically any kind of work with Oprah.
Favorite decade in fashion history: Thirties or forties. Yes, yes, the Great Depression and World War Two... but there is something so gritty, strong and unflappable about clothes and beauty then.
Place I’d most like to travel: Japan, Sweden, Finland, Morocco and Turkey.
My signature drink: Tea. Any tea, all tea.
Favorite artist: Nick Herd. He worked as a barista in the cafe I write in the way Clark Kent is a “journalist”. He makes incredible oil paint portraits and still lifes using a pallet knife. You can find, stalk and buy from him here: http://www.nickherd.com/studio/
Number one on my bucket list: Publish another book (this is a perennial item)
