Today I’m
thrilled to welcome my friend and talented author, Karen Tayleur to my blog.And to make up for my slack blogging of late, it's going to be a long visit!
Karen’s
new young adult novel, Love Notes From Vinegar House, published by Black Dog
Books, an imprint of Walker Books Australia, is a compelling, touching, funny
and chilling story. You’ll love it!
Karen,
welcome! I have so many weird and wonderful questions for you. First up, what
was your favourite thing to do with your best friend in primary school?
There was a group of us
in grade 3 who used to play The Amazing Three at lunchtime.
The Amazing Three was a
Manga cartoon of aliens who had come to Earth and assumed the form of Earth
animals.My friend Patricia was
always the horse. She had a ponytail so this worked well.
It was years later,
looking back at school photos, that I realised Patricia had Polynesian
heritage.
We had a real mix of kids
at our school but nationality wasn't an issue.
It wasn't until we grew
older and learned to put labels on people that it became an issue.
Complete
this sentence. My first day at secondary school was ...
The same as my first day
in Grade 6. We were the first year level in a new school in the western
suburbs. We didn't even have a uniform yet.The school building
wasn't even finished. We didn't have many facilities. I remember the music
teacher dictating the words to American Pie.
He strung this out for a
couple of lessons. Of course, I knew all the words, so that really annoyed him.
I didn't stay there long
- by second term my family moved to the eastern suburbs. On my first day at
that school they were having a Slave for the Day auction
which meant the whole
school gathered near the canteen and the Form 6 kids auctioned off teachers to
raise funds. I was terrified. I wasn't
sure what I had got myself into. I didn't have the right
uniform yet and I had to wear a scratchy itchy woollen dress with a nice tartan
pattern. Mum wanted to make sure I was warm enough. I didn't attract the
right kind of attention until the following week when I wore my favourite brown
corduroy pinafore with yellow skinny top and boots.
Fashionista!
Surf beach
or bay side beaches?
Surf beach, especially
during winter.
In Love
Notes From Vinegar House, you write about the beach and ocean so evocatively,
yet with such a light hand. How important has the ocean/beach been in your
life?
Holidays with the family
meant beach time. We didn't have a lot of money but Dad and Mum always made
sure we had a family holiday every year. The splash of sea-spray and the crunch
of sand under my feet always bring back fond memories.
Do you
have a favourite beach memory?
The day we took our cat
down to the beach one Easter. He'd been toilet trained with kitty litter and he
spent a lot of time looking for the corner of the kitty litter tray in the
sand.
Did you
send notes in class? Were you ever caught?
Definitely - to both
questions. We started the idea of multi-tasking. You can learn and pass notes
at the same time...
Another complete
this sentence; 'When I was Freya's age, I had a crush on ...
a boy who didn't love me
back until it was too late because I'd already moved on. I guess life's all about
the timing.
We did kiss but it was a
huge disappointment.
'Freya has
done some stupid things.' What is the silliest thing you have ever done?
Gee, there have been so
many...
What is
the daggiest song secreted away in your iPod? (Remember I have heard most of
the stuff in there!)
Gee, there are so many...
(Indeed there were! Lucky I was
there with my Sherbet, Hoodoo Gurus and Midnight Oil!)
 |
| Sherbet daggy??? Never! |
Which
leads me to a very important
question for someone our age - Skyhooks or Sherbet?
Sherbet. I know, not very
cool, but there it is.
When I was 15 I took the
country train to Swan Hill to stay with some relatives. I had a whole beauty
case just dedicated to nail polish and copped a lot of flack for that from the
family I stayed with. Sherbet came to the Town Hall and I got to see them,
which was amazing. Years later I would have to say that Horses by Daryl
Braithwaite is one of my favourite songs. It was in my Vinegar House playlist
that I played when I was writing.
While we’re
down this track - the Bus Stop or Nutbush City Limits?
Nutbush, of course.
I remember dancing the
Nutbush in the school gym for some special event.
I was wearing Staggers
Jeans and a Miller's shirt with pearlised snap press-studs.
It was a green and cream
shirt with a gold thread. I couldn't have a blue one because my best friend
had already snaffled the
blue one and you didn't want to look the same as everyone else!
I also had red leather
platform shoes with a cork heel which were incredibly comfortable.
The boys wore tight jeans
and lumber jackets. You knew when people were
'going' with each other because the girl would always wear some guy's lumber jacket -
even in the height of summer.
We thought we were cool. The teachers didn't tell
us how silly we looked.
I still think I'm cool
every time I dance the Nutbush, but my kids like to tell me I'm not.
What
scares you?
Change rooms with mirrors
on all sides
My sister when she used
to hide under my bed before bed time and she'd grab my ankles as I got into
bed.
My husband's cooking when
he goes random and uses anything from the fridge.
Anyone with a camera.
Blog tours.
Do you
believe in ghosts?
Like Freya, I'm sitting
on the fence.
I don't believe... but I
don't disbelieve either.
What is
your favourite use for vinegar?
Balsamic Vinegar +
strawberries + brown sugar and cream
hmmmm
Karen, thanks so much for
dropping by, as always, it’s a pleasure to catch up. Tomorrow the Love Notes
from Vinegar House Blog Tour continues with Celine at http://forget8me8not.blogspot.com.au/
Visit my blog again
tomorrow for a chance to win a copy of Love Notes from Vinegar House. You’ll
LOVE it!
