1 Tell me a little about yourself (where you live,
who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)
“My name is Petra
Longstride. I am nine. I live in the Kingdom of Pen Pieyu. I am a princess who
became a knight in my author’s first book. Oh, it is all such a long story, but
I would rather just be a knight and protect my kingdom--my father, THE KING,
would rather I did not be a knight. He has this silly royal rule book where he
makes up rules to try to get me to be more, you know, princessy like and...”
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Snarls: “Excuse me (pushing and shoving his big rump in front of Petra),
is not this interview about me? I am the dragon in these stories—and now, royal
steed and royal chef--and I make the whole story H.A.P.P.E.N., know what I
mean? Ha-hah! Oh, by the way, Petra is cute, with long, and really messy hair I
might add, but cute as far as girls go.”
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Petra: “Snarls, be quiet and behave for once.”
What do you like to do in your spare time?
“I like to throw javelin to hit the
mark; practice my onion throwing techniques; make mud pies; write stories like
my Nana Longstride teaches me to; do art and have food-throwing parties with my
friends, Bograt the Bog Witch, and Prince Nastybun, the puny prince from The
Land of Mesoggie.
Oh, I also have a friend that tries to get me to crochet with
him, Prince Duce Crablips, but he lives far away; and I like to wrestle with my
crocodile friend, Letgo. You know, girl
stuff.”
Snarls: “Uhhhhuum, what about me? You hang
out with me! (Steps in front of Petra again) Oh, I like to cook and I am a
master chef . . .”
Petra: “Shush it!” (pokes dragon in the
ribs, then whispering) “We are never
going to get any noble character interviews if you keep acting this way. Remember
what happened last time? That bloggy duchess nearly threw us out of her blogging
studio.”
3 What is your favorite color and why?
“I like all the colors because I
like doing art and all the colors deserve respectability, know what I mean?”
(puts her hand on Snarls’ mouth).
Snarls: “I wike siiiilver shinnnny dings.”
Petra: “I mean it!” (stomps on his
foot paw).
4 What is your favorite food? Why is it your
favorite?
(Snarls turns his back toward Petra)
“Chocolate, mushrooms, wild berries, olives and nuts, because they taste
good. Oh, and Snarls likes onions—I hate onions.”
5 What would you say is your biggest quirk?
“What is a quirk? Hmmmm, I think you
meant to ask what do I not like? In that case, I really do not like big
meanies, onions, like I just said, and bees.”
6 What is it about your antagonist that irks you
the most, and why?
“Oh, oh, I know what an antagonist is because my
author told me. In the stories I am in, all the antagonists ruffle the feathers
on me because they are big meanies. But
you know what? If you give antagonists a chance, sometimes they are not so
antagonisingly bad. I ended up making friends with them all. So that is how you
get rid of those kinds of antagonists.
The other antagonist in the stories is the obstacles I have to go through
to become a knight. It was not easy and I was scared.”
7 What or who means the most to you in your life?
What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?
(Thinking with finger on her lips,
rolling her eyes upward, then all around) “Hmmmm . . .”
Snarls: “Okay, that's it! (blasts out a
stream of smoke and parchment from his nostrils) I am speaking up here! You
know we are on these adventures together. I have had enough of your ignoring
and putting me on the back-oven stuff just because I torched your new plume,
accidentally I might add..."
Petra:
(Giggling and rubbing Snarls’ nose) “I am jesting you, Snarls. Of course
you are the one that I cannot live without--even if your fire breathing needs
some work, umm, you have kind a made a mess here--, you are my number one
alliance, know what I mean? Snarls is my
royal steed since it was not written in the royal rule book that he could not be. We would do anything to protect each other,
right, Snarls?”
Snarls: (Grinning from ear to ear; nods quickly).
8 What one thing would you like readers to know
about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?
“Princess dresses are really itchy.
That is why I like my knight clothes.”
Snarls: “Hahahah, knight clothes, like
night clothes. Hahah. Good one! Oh, and I only, and very accidentally, exploded
something once.”
Petra: “SHUUSHHH! Hehehehe .”
9 If you could tell your writer (creator) anything
about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?
“Well, thankfully, we have already worked that all out. You see,
awhile back, we characters had a storybook union councilman come around and
explain stuff to us. Now, I tell my writer what adventures I am willing to go
on and she writes the stories that way. No more hassles, see? Oh, and she gets
to keep all her author rights, whatever that is.”
Snarls: “Yep, that is how I became the royal chef.”
Ask me any question. I've always wanted to know
what a character thinks about writers like myself. I'll answer the question at
the end of this interview.
Petra: “Do your characters have to audition
for the parts in your stories like we do?”
Snarls: “Do you write every day? Or do you loaf
off like our writer? Going off to putz in the garden? Or clean your castle?”
Two questions, what a treat. Let's take the first one, first:
No one really has to audition for my books but I'll tell you, I often have one or two sneaking into the plot to be heard, and sometimes I actually use them in my book.
Now for the second question. Yes, I write every day, but I do loaf sometimes, too. If a writer is stuck behind the computer all day it makes for some pretty boring text. I do have to clean my castle, too, and I try to do that in between spurts of great book ideas.
Thank you for asking both questions.
***
To learn more about Petra and Snarls visit:
Author website: http://www.dragonsbook.com
Author blog site: http://www.dianemaerobinson.com
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diane-Mae-Robinson/265979866785967
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Book one
Amazon paperback
Twitter: @DianeMaeRobinson
Book two
Amazon paperback
Goodreads book two
Book Award Info:
2012 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award
(literary arts).
2012 First Runner Up, Purple Dragonfly Books Awards, Children’s
Chapter Book Category.
2013 Honorable Mention, in the Readers’ Favorite International
Book Awards, K – 3rd Grade Category.
2013 Finalist in the “50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading”
Contest.
2014 Three Time Finalist in the Readers’ Favorite International
Book Awards Contest: K- 3rd Grade, 4th – 6th
Grade, and Children’s Fantasy Categories (winners announced on Sept. 1, 2014).
Hi Kathryn. This is Petra and Snarls. We would like to thank you for the funny interview, I mean fun, oh, and our writer, Diane, would like to thank you too. She said we behaved quite well, considering. I think that is good. And we like your answers to our questions. That is nice that you have your own castle, Bye. Thank you,
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