Video transcript
NSW Premier's Reading Challenge 2024 – SWF author interview (primary) – 01. Nova Weetman

[intro music]

KATHERINA: Hi, my name is Katherina, and I'm a student from Glenfield Public School. I'm here today on Darug land at Parramatta Riverside Theatre as part of the Sydney Writers' Festival Primary Schools Day. And I'm so excited to be interviewing the amazing Nova Weetman for the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge. Hi, Nova. How are you today?

NOVA WEETMAN: I'm good, Katherina.

KATHERINA: You have written 13 different books for children and young adults like me. So you must be a bit of an expert by now. When writing, do you normally plan out the story first, or start writing straight away?

NOVA WEETMAN: Oh, that's such a good question. I am what's called a pantser, so someone who flies by the seat of their pants. So I just start writing with no plan, which leads me to all sorts of disasters because I write a first draft, and it's awful. So that's how I work, no plot, just hope. [laughs]

KATHERINA: One of my favourite books you've written is 'Sick Bay', and I notice it's written from the point of view of the 2 main characters, Meg and Riley. Why did you decide to write the story like that?

NOVA WEETMAN: Oh. I think I loved the idea of having a friendship, a blossoming friendship written about 2 girls, but for the reader to know how each of them felt about each other, and that felt like the only way I could do it.

I wanted to write it in first person. So I had to have dual protagonists and dual perspective. It also allowed me to get to know 2 characters really well, which I really loved. So that was the decision making behind that.

KATHERINA: Out of all your books, which one would you say you're the most proud of, and do you have a favourite?

NOVA WEETMAN: Ooh, no favourites because it always feels like that would be cruel to the rest. [laughs]

It'd be like saying which of my children I like better, which would be really hard. But I think probably 'Sick Bay' was the point at which I realised I loved writing for upper middle grade readers. So that kind of cemented my understanding of what I could do as a writer, I think. Yeah.

KATHERINA: OK. You've written about a lot of different characters. Do you ever see a little bit of yourself in your characters?

NOVA WEETMAN: Yes, all the time. [laughs]

I mean, I suspect most writers, if they're honest, would always borrow little bits from themselves and from people they know, and I definitely think Clem Timmins, who's in 3 books, has a lot of the kind of qualities that I had when I was that age. She's quite hotheaded, and a bit impulsive, and determined, and a bit feisty. So I think, probably, I was a bit like her.

KATHERINA: Oh, wow. OK. Why did you decide to become an author?

NOVA WEETMAN: Oh. I think because, when I was 10, 11, and 12, all I wanted to do was read, and when I wasn't reading, I was writing. And I wanted to write the sorts of books that saved me, I guess, when I was a kid, or that I felt were there for me, and spoke to me, and I wanted to write books like the books that I loved when I was a young person.

KATHERINA: I've heard that you wrote your very first book at age 12, which sounds a lot of work for someone still in school. Did anything or anyone inspire you to do that?

NOVA WEETMAN: Oh. Well, I went to a tiny primary school with 100 kids, and we had a beautiful school principal, and he was the one who got my friend Cathy and I to write 'The Jelly People', which is that book that I wrote when I was 12. It's probably not publishable. [laughs] But it is a lot of fun. Yes, I do kind of like talking to students about it. So I think my school principal and my mum. Yeah.

KATHERINA: I also learned that you write for films and TV shows. How different is the process when you're writing for the screen instead of a book, and how do you feel when you see your writing on screen?

NOVA WEETMAN: Oh, that's a good question, too. I think the biggest difference in writing for film and television is that, when you're doing especially television, there's a lot of compromise. So you're working with other writers. You're working with the director and actors.

And when I started out, I used to have this producer who would just write boring in red pen across my script. Imagine having a teacher write that on your-- it's awful. So I got a very thick skin. So I got quite tough when I was working in television. It's actually more lovely holding a book that you've written than it is seeing a television show, I think. There's something much more special about holding a book that has your name on it.

KATHERINA: Coming back to books, do you have any future books planned, and if so, are you able to share them with us?

NOVA WEETMAN: Oh, I do. I have 2 graphic novels that I'm-- so we're sort of in the process of writing the first one with an Illustrator called Renée Treml, who did 'Sherlock Bones', and it's a sort of mystery in a small country town. And it's been really fun because graphic novel writing balances how you write as a TV writer with writing stories like a novelist. So it's a really nice blending of those 2 skills.

KATHERINA: What advice would you give to any hopeful writers watching us today?

NOVA WEETMAN: Oh, OK. I would say read as much as you can. Read as widely as you can. So don't just read the genre of books that you like, but read everything you can. And when you find a book you love, read it over and over and over again to work out what the author is doing, and then try and work out how you can do the same, and don't give up. I'd say that, too. Don't give up, because it's hard. [laughs]

KATHERINA: I'm pretty sure that happened to you also.

NOVA WEETMAN: Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, exactly.

KATHERINA: The PRC is all about encouraging children to read books they enjoy. Do you have any advice to the students watching this when it comes to reading?

NOVA WEETMAN: I think reading books that you enjoy is so important because I think sometimes we read books that we think we should read, or that are worthy, or that are important, and I would say work out what you love and just dive in, and read as much as you can of whatever you love. I think that's really important.

KATHERINA: OK. What were your favourite books when you were still at school?

NOVA WEETMAN: Oh, OK. When I was a little bit younger, I loved 'Harriet the Spy'. And then, when I was probably in grade 5 or 6, it was horse books because I loved riding horses, but it was also all of Judy Blume's books.

So any Judy Blume novels that I could get my hands on, and a book called 'Deenie' was one of my very, very favourites. And I think if I could write books as good as Judy Blume did, then I'd be very happy. [laughs]

KATHERINA: What is your relationship with jelly beans?

NOVA WEETMAN: [laughs] Well, they feature very heavily in 'Sick Bay' because of Riley and her type 1 diabetes. And I am actually a big jelly snake eater myself, and so I often have a bag of jelly snakes on the go when I'm writing. And so jelly beans sort of became a feature of 'Sick Bay', and even more so in America because the front cover is the 2 girls sitting on a giant jelly bean. So yeah. [laughs]

KATHERINA: Thank you so much for letting me interview you today, Nova. It's been amazing talking with you. I hope everyone watching out there today enjoys reading your incredible novels as much as I did while they work to complete the Premier's Reading Challenge.

NOVA WEETMAN: Thank you so much. Thanks for the interview. It was beautiful. Thank you.