Sophie Masson

My latest book is Malvolio's Revenge

It’s about a troupe of down-on-their-luck travelling actors in 1910 in Louisiana who put in for the night in a dilapidated mansion called Illyria--and fall into a world of danger, mystery, disguises, voodoo and murder!

The best thing about being a writer is being away with the fairies all day long and no-one complains--and what's more, you're paid for it!

If I wasn’t a writer I’d be an actor, a playwright or a film-maker; probably one of the latter two. I'd always need to tell stories!

My first published work was a review of a play I'd seen. I forget the name of the play—something about a garage. The piece was published in the local paper.

Morning person or night-owl? I'm a morning person—though not very early. I don't like to get up before 7am. I work really, really well between 8am and 4pm, then I start to droop a bit. I love relaxing in the evening reading or talking or watching a film.

My first job was delivering advertising brochures. I was 17 and had just left home. It was horrid. I had kilometres to walk and hardly got paid a thing. I ended up dumping most of the brochures in a bin!

On a quiz show, my special subject would be fairytales, myths and legends.

My last holiday was a few weeks ago, down the coast.

My perfect Saturday is morning tea with friends, then getting the papers, reading them with my feet up listening to music, a great lunch, a great dinner—a great movie to watch!

The last CD I bought was one of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing together. Absolutely cool!

I’m currently reading Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced. I re-read Christie's books frequently. They always give me great pleasure—a real tonic.

Big Brother or Australian Idol? Idol, by a long shot!

Favourite film/tv show is Poirot. I'm a Christie nut. Oh, and Foyle's War. In film, it would be The Godfather. A perfect thing. Oh, and also Miyazaki's Spirited Away. And Hitchcock's Vertigo.

My favourite book is—I can't pick just one! I love heaps of them. I read very widely, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays.

The book character I would most like to meet is Hercule Poirot.

The book character I would least like to meet is Rita Skeeter!

The worst thing I’ve ever written is—I think I'll leave it up to my critics to say that!

When I was growing up I wanted to be a princess. With a magic wand. That was early on. Later, I wanted to be an actor. But I always wrote and wrote and wrote. Funny I didn't think I'd be a writer, then!

My heroes are William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Hayao Miyazaki, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, Mozart, Alfred Hitchcock...to start with. Too many really to mention. I 'm interpreting heroes as people you look up to but are also grateful for—that there's such beauty and wonder in the world. For an artist, it's also the challenge of the brilliant that really pushes you on to achieve more yourself as well.