A Chat With Tjalara Draper
This week, I interviewed Tjalara Draper whose debut novel Shards of Venus is coming out soon. Hi, Tjalara! Thanks for joining me today. It's good to finally put a face to the name. Do you have a pen name and why? No. I thought about having a pen name, because of how unusual my name is. I thought it would be easier for the world to deal with something more simple, like Mary Smith, or the like. But then I came to the realisation that I like my name and I’m also not the only author out there who has an uncommon name. What was the defining event that made you start writing? I remember when I was nine, and my teacher at the time started reading “The Adventures of the Wishing Chair” by Enid Blyton. I was so entranced and I just adored the magical characters and worlds that Enid Blyton had created. At that age I practically wanted to be Enid Blyton. I even tried my hand at writing some short stories based on her books. Believe it or not, my mother had kept a few of those stories a...