The Thirteen Curses

Michelle Harrison was born in 1979 and grew up in Grays, Essex. She has a degree in Illustration, and is a former Waterstone’s bookseller and assistant editor at Oxford University Press. She now writes full-time and has a son, Jack, and two cats.

Her first novel, The Thirteen Treasures, won the Waterstones’ Children’s Book Prize and has been sold in over sixteen countries. It is followed by two sequels, The Thirteen Curses and The Thirteen Secrets and a prequel, One Wish. She has also published Unrest, a stand-alone ghost novel for teens and is now working on a second young adult novel.

Author Photo Credit: Charlie Hopkinson

Q&A with Michelle Harrison

Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
A. I'm a 'glass half-full' type of person.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. Elvesden Manor.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Optimism, or at least I like to think it is!

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. I sometimes think I'd like to be a cat, just for the sheer amount of sleeping they do.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. My Essex accent.

Q. Who is your favourite fictional villain?
A. Beatrice Lacey in Wideacre by Philippa Gregory.

Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. It would be Jack the Ripper. I like to think I'd demand to know his identity, but in all honesty I'd probably run.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. People who look down their noses at others.

Q. What is your favourite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. It depends on my mood, but drawing/painting, reading or watching a film.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Being an author and an illustrator!

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?

Favourite authors
Hans Christian Andersen, Enid Blyton, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Martina Cole, Roald Dahl, Philippa Gregory, The Brothers Grimm, Julie Hearn, Eva Ibbotson, Christopher Pike, J.K. Rowling, Marcus Sedgwick, Sarah Singleton.

Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?

A. Read lots, write lots, and don't give up.

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