Scot Gardner

My latest book is Gravity

It’s about a young bloke who lives in a remote Victorian town, hates his life and doesn’t have the courage to change. It’s about finding the courage you need to do the things you want.

The best thing about being a writer is the freedom to work when you want at the pace that suits you.

If I wasn’t a writer I’d be a builder.

My first published work was One Dead Seagull. A story about fifteen year old Wayne Armond and his struggle to stay on track after an industrial accident that changes his life. There are plenty of smiles in there, too.

Morning person or night owl? I’m most certainly a morning person. My internal clock gets me up just before sunrise and my most productive hours are between six and twelve noon. Afternoons are for playing.

My first job was pulling ragwort and thistles on a dairy farm in Gippsland.

On a quiz show, my special subject would be Australian native animals.

My last holiday was camping with my family in the Avon wilderness.

My perfect Saturday is a campfire, a beer, and a posse of friends after a good day of fun jobs.

The last CD I bought was Jeff Wayne’s re-mastered War of the Worlds.

I’m currently reading Marcus Clarke’s For the Term of His Natural Life.

Big Brother or Australian Idol? I’ve never actually seen a full episode of either, owing to the fact that we haven’t got an aerial connected to our TV.

Favourite film/tv show is Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings – Return of the King. No question there. I got the DVD of Chris Lilley’s We Can Be Heroes and laughed and laughed and cried and laughed.

My favourite book is Tim Winton’s The Turning for its dreamlike honesty and fearlessness.

The book character I would most like to meet is Zac Freeman – Bum Fighter extraordinaire.

The book character I would least like to meet is Peter Benchley’s Jaws

The worst thing I’ve ever written is a note to one of my friends in grade five that contained a BAD swear word and was intercepted by my teacher. D’oh!

When I was growing up I wanted to be a Vet.

My heroes are Bob Brown, Peter Garrett, Mandawuy Yunupingu, Asterix and Obelix.