I love Aussie YA. I love reading books from authors that live in the same country as me, that know things that people out of Australia might be so confused about. I love how sometimes they can incorporate this into their book and it is fabulous. 

So in saying that, I have decided to start a new feature on Angel Reads spotlighting Australian YA Authors. Each Friday for the next couple of months, I am going to interview an OZYA Author. I thought it would be a fun way to share my love for Australian Young Adult authors with not only fellow Aussies, but everyone around the world. I want more Australian YA books to be read, because they are amazing. 

First week I interview Sarah Ayoub, then Fleur Ferris, followed by Will Kostakis, then Shivaun Plozza, and Gabrielle Tozer, followed by Jay Kristoff and Kylie Fornasier, A.J Betts, Megan Jacobson then Christopher Currie and last week Steph Bowe. 

This week  Tim Sinclair author of young adult novel Run (2013, Penguin Australia)  and various other novels and poems. 

Hi Tim, and welcome to Angel Reads. First can you introduce yourself to everyone? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi! Thanks for having me. I write poetry and verse novels and novel novels (you know, the ones that everyone else just calls ‘novels’).

I like to involve myself in the research of my books in as physical a way as possible – my last book Run was about parkour, which made for some pretty interesting research – but it’s proving a little harder with my current project, as it would involve me travelling forward in time to a postapocalyptic world…

What has your writing journey been like? Where did you start? Why?

I’ve been writing stories and poems for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a very wordy household, where we did daggy things like write poems on each other’s birthday presents, so I’ve always swum in language. And I’ve always been a reader, so writing seemed like a natural part of that.

What was the process of getting your first book published?

Thrilling, obviously (!) – I was travelling while it was all happening, and sitting in an internet cafe on a small island in Hong Kong waiting for the cover proofs of Nine Hours North to download is one of the highlights of my life so far.

The other word I would use would be ‘pivotal’. There it was, the culmination of a lifetime spent dreaming about being a ‘real writer’, but what I very quickly realised was that it was just the start of the next phase. There’s always something else to aim for.

Was it different when getting your subsequent books published?

Each book has its own set of excitements and challenges – I know a bit more each time around, but there’s still so much to learn. I’m writing my first novel novel at the moment – actually, series of novels – and that’s a whole other thing. So many words!

You are an OZYA author, what are some of your favourite Aussie YA books?

I hate the ‘favourites’ question! Always so hard to narrow it down… If you’re going to make me pick just a few though, I’d say Vikki Wakefield’s Inbetween Days, Fiona Wood’s Cloudwish, Margo Lanagan’s Tender Morsels, and Ambelin Kwaymullina’s The Tribe series.

You can find Tim on twitter at @Tim_Sinclair, his website and don’t forget to add his books to your goodreads. 

Run by Tim Sinclair

Pages: 236
Publish date: March 2016
Publisher: Penguin Australia
ISBN: 0143567683
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

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Thank you Tim for joining me at Angel Reads. That is it for this week’s #LoveOZYA Interview. What did you think of Tim and his books? Let’s Chat! 

Come back next week for some more Aussie fun. If you want to know more about the #LoveOZYA movement check out the website for all the details. Also if you have any Australian YA authors that you would like to see me interview, just let me know and I can see what I can do.