M aged 19 female
Where does the inspiration for the lodger characters originate from? Are they constructed from people you have personally met or are they completely fictitious?
They are a mix – some of them are drawn from real-life and others are made-up.
In regards to the protagonist’s sister, to what extent did you set out to represent/provide commentary on OCD or similar behaviours in children? And what are your thoughts on the relationship between OCD and stammering – why was this a significant relationship for you to portray in her book?
I never intended Min’s sister, Bea, to have a definite diagnosis of any kind. In writing Bea’s character, I wanted to have two very different sisters who are obliged to share a room, and therefore have to learn to accept each other. One is tidy, the other messy; one is quiet and bookish, the other chatty. In the course of the book, they are brought face-to-face with the particularly challenges they live with.
Did writing this book give you the opportunity to learn anything new about your stammer or understand it better?
I think it made me consider what my stammer has given me, and not just focus on what it has taken away from me. All stammerers become adroit editors, by necessity. During conversations, we have to redraft and rethink our sentences inside our head; we have to come up with synonyms for words that might trip us up. I don’t think I would have been a writer if I hadn’t first been a stammerer.
Sometimes you just need someone to talk to
Sometimes you just need someone to talk to
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