"Writing comforts me"

Why do you write?

– Because I’m a terrible singer! Writing comforts me. Because it’s what I do best. Because I love making up and telling stories. Because I see my books as gifts I want to give to the people I love. Because it’s my way of ordering the world, giving it meaning.

How did you develop your powers of imagination?

– As a child, I didn’t read all that much, but my siblings and I would tell each other stories. Especially my younger brother and me. We shared a room, and every night we took turns making up stories for each other. I remember that they were unrealistic stories. We made up crazy characters and revisited them over and over until the idea was completely ‘exhausted’. That was a great learning experience for me. I developed my creativity, my imagination, my ability to shape a narrative. Maybe that’s how I became an author.

How do you choose your subjects?

– It’s a mystery. Why do we pick up one particular stone from a beach full of stones? Writing a novel is a sustained effort: one word after another, one idea after another. I also get ideas from things that happened to me when I was young that I still feel shape my life today.

My job is to enchant them,
and that is a real challenge
that scares me every time.

Where do you write?

– In my office, at my computer. Often listening to music. I also write a lot on the train, in notebooks. I love to write in the fall and winter. And in the mornings. I never write at night.

You have said that creating each new book is like going on a scary date. What do you mean by that?

– That first encounter with a story is something I have to devise. It doesn’t happen by itself. I know very little about how things will go. All the personal qualities – I have to create them. Everything depends on my talent, or my mediocrity. Writing a book also involves an encounter with my readers, whom I assume are all smart, sensitive and have a sense of humour. My job is to enchant them, and that is a real challenge that scares me every time. For a writer, opening your computer or your notebook is the moment of truth.

Why do you write for young people?

– I often say that I write for everyone, not just the young, which is true. I never think about ‘children’ when I write. But I have to admit that the older I get, the more often I feel moved and enchanted by these little individuals: their energy, their innocence, their optimism.