Ten Terrifying Questions with Kiah Thomas

Kiah Thomas started telling stories when she was a kid; reimagining the endings in books she read. She rediscovered her love of kids books when she had children of her own, and started writing beginnings as well as endings. Kiah is passionate about books that kids and adults can enjoy together. She lives on the south coast of NSW with her husband, three children and at least seven stuffed toy penguins.

Today, to celebrate the recent release of her middle grade fantasy novel The Callers, Kiah Thomas is here to take on our Ten Terrifying Questions! Read on …

Kiah Thomas

1. To begin with, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?

I was born in my parent’s lounge room in Gerringong, where I lived (same house, different carpet …!) until I was eighteen. School was about an hour away, in Wollongong, and bus trips were spent dreaming, talking and calculating how many hours we’d have spent on the bus by the time we finished school (around 2,400).

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?

When I was twelve, I think I just wanted to be famous, at eighteen I wanted to do something that involved wearing smart clothes and telling people what to do, and by thirty all I wanted was to not have to get out of my pyjamas and to have fictional characters tell me what they wanted to do.

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you don’t have now?

That I was really different from my mother! The older I get, the more I realise that I might actually be more like her than even she is. Except she’s a much better cook – and I wish that eighteen- year- old me had thought to freeze the leftovers of every meal she ever made for thirty-three-year- old me to eat.

4. What are three works of art – this could be a book, painting, piece of music, film, etc – that influenced your development as a writer?

This is so tricky! I’m going to say –

Everything by Emily Rodda (is that cheating?). I feel like everything she crafts is so rich and somehow so simply told. It doesn’t matter how many times I read Deltora Quest, every time it feels exciting and fresh.

The Matrix – I feel like this is likely true for a lot of people – but watching it was the first time that I remember feeling excited to be both part of the story and to see the story, if that makes sense.

My Neighbor Totoro – It’s my daughter’s favourite movie and the warmth and absurdity and joy in it is inspiring. It does so much in even its simple moments; even when the magic isn’t there, it’s there.

5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing a children’s book?

Stories are so important, no matter what form they take. They’ve always been a part of the way I understand and process (and occasionally take a brief holiday) from the world. But I think that there is something especially magic about the moment you first discover that – the joy of falling in to something at once both intensely personal and at the same time part of something bigger. Getting to know characters and worlds so well, and then realising that your friends know them too.

There’s so much hope in children’s books, even when hard things are happening. It’s special to be a part of that.

6. Please tell us about your latest book!

The Callers is a middle-grade fantasy adventure about a boy named Quintus Octavius, who discovers a world-changing truth and has to decide what to do about it.

Quin lives in Elipsom, where the ability to Call – to conjure things into existence – is a coveted, crucial skill. But despite being from a family of Callers, Quin doesn’t have the gift.

When his mother arranges for his sister to cheat for him on his Calling exam he’s mortified. But then everything changes when Quin sees something disappear. He discovers that the things that are Called are not, in fact, appearing from thin air, but are being taken from somewhere else, and from a people who have had their lives slowly stolen from them.

7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?

First and foremost, I hope that readers really enjoy the story. But beyond that, I hope that it encourages thoughtfulness. That it can be part of a discussion around how we live, and how that affects the people and places around us.

8. Who do you most admire in the writing world and why?

I don’t even know where to start! There are so many people I admire for different reasons, but the first that comes to mind at the moment is romance writer Sarah MacLean. Possibly a strange answer for a children’s book author, but I just love how unapologetically passionate she is about what she’s creating.

9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?

When I started writing, I think I probably had about half a dozen very specific, (highly unlikely) goals. Then when my first draft of my first novel didn’t immediately get published and become an instant bestseller I was horrified.

Now, my goal is to just always keep writing, no matter what happens externally. To focus on the reader, not on my own imaginings of success.

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

I think the best advice that I received (and so have stolen as my own advice) is that there are so few things you can control, but the thing you can control is the words on the page. So just keep sitting down and writing them.

Thank you for playing!

—The Callers by Kiah Thomas (HarperCollins Australia) is out now.

The Callers

by Kiah Thomas

In the world of Elipsom, the ability to Call, or summon objects, is a coveted skill. And yet despite being born into a family of Callers, Quin doesn't have the gift.

But everything changes when instead of summoning an object, Quin makes something disappear. He quickly discovers that the objects Callers bring into their world aren't conjured at all, but are taken from another land, and another people who have had their lives slowly stolen from them...

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