Featured Author: Maureen Bush

Bibliography at Orca

Cursed!: Jane is terrified of the masks hanging along her grandmother's stairwell, and even more scared of the Spirit Man in her grandmother's bathroom. After a week of avoiding him during a summer visit, she finally summons the courage to face him, minutes before leaving for the trip home. But her moment of triumph marks the beginning of a year of trouble for Jane and her family, trouble only Jane (and the Spirit Man) can fix.

Feather Brain: Lucas gets more than he bargained for when he orders a dinosaur-making kit off the Internet.

Interview

Why do you write, and why children's books? I love to write. I love creating a story and bringing it to life. I love writing for kids because they're totally open to fantasy. They have no need to suspend disbelief; they leap right in, eager for the adventure.

What kind of research do you do before writing a book? It depends on the story. For Cursed, I did very little research. Mostly, I remembered family stories and a friend's dog and a professor's house, and wove them together. Normally, I research the various topics in the story, by Internet and at libraries, and I collect images. I also visit the places I'm writing about, taking notes and pictures.

Do you put your family and friends in your books? No. Of course not. Never!

Well, never by name. Except Bear, the dog in Cursed. He's named in honour of a lovely big black dog named Bear.
I do borrow characteristics and stories and moments and jokes.

What is your favorite children's book? My favorite books when I was a child were The Hobbit, Winnie the Pooh, and Swallows and Amazons.

What are the best and worst things about writing books? THE WORST: those days when I'd rather clean the toilet than write. THE BEST: those brilliant, too-rare writerly days when I ignore the world and just write and write and write.

What's the funniest or most interesting reader response you've ever had? On a school website for a Reader's Choice Award, a boy wrote that he really liked Feather Brain, but he gave it a 6/10 because "Who would make a crazy dinosaur?"

Biography

Born in Edmonton, Maureen Bush was raised in Edmonton and Calgary. She has worked as a public involvement consultant and trained as a mediator. Her first book with Orca was Feather Brain (2008). Feather Brain and The Nexus Ring (Couteau, 2007) are both CCBC Best Books, and between them have been nominated for five readers choice awards. Feather Brain is also an OLA Best Bets for 2008 and received an honourable mention for the YA Sunburst Award.

Maureen lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband and two daughters. To learn more about Maureen and her books, visit www.maureenbush.com