Rachael Craw is the Christchurch-based writer of the Spark trilogy and The Rift. Her latest novel, The Lost Saint, has just been released.
1. Describe yourself in three words:
I don’t know how to make these grammatically correct as descriptors but they capture the essence of my mysterious self …
Schattenparker: From schatten (shadow) and parker. The type of wuss who parks in the shade because they’re worried about it getting too hot.
Torschlusspanik: Times are crazy, times are hard and time … is running out. Torschlusspanik (tor-shloos-pan-eek) combines the words tor (door or gate), schluss (shut) and panik (fear or panic). It generally means ‘fear of time running out’ or ‘fear that a door will close’. The term actually originated during the Middle Ages in Germany when the doors to the city would close and people would rush in a panic to get inside.
Treppenwitz: Treppenwitz (trep-pen-vits) combines the words treppen (stairs) and witz (joke) to make ‘staircase joke’. It refers to the times when you think of a perfect comeback or witty retort to something after you’ve left and the moment is gone.
2. During the height of adolescence, was it a good changeover?
I have no doubt if you asked my parents, they found me universally charming.
3. Are you haunted by a particular memory?
In standard 4 (last year of primary school), I put my name forward to be a crossing guard. When they announced the ‘chosen’ the teacher said it was because they were the most trustworthy, responsible and reliable students. My name was not on the list. Immediate, profound, tectonic devastation—yet on the surface not a ripple of dismay.
In truth, it confirmed my deepest fears, as not long before I had rescued a baby bird that had fallen from a tree in our backyard. I was so worried and upset about the wee thing, I fashioned a nest of paper towels in an old ice cream container and fed it a milky gruel with an eye-dropper. I kept it on a shelf in the hot water cylinder cupboard so it would stay warm and cosy. But, it was summer and in the evenings my brother and I would stay outside and play non-stop cricket in the backyard with the kids from next door. I forgot all about the baby bird. When it grew too dark to see the ball, we gave up and went to bed. Suddenly, I remembered my patient and rushed to the cupboard but I was too late. The poor wee thing had died. It was my fault. I had failed it. I was untrustworthy, irresponsible, unreliable and selfish and they don’t let murderers be crossing guards.
4. MM: ‘Imagination is the creative use of reality.’ Is this true for you?
I expect so. In truth, most of my ideas come from dreams. Almost all of my novels started with a vivid dream. The Lost Saint was inspired by a dream in which I entered an architect’s workshop in a medieval tower. He pulled out this roll of ‘blueprints’ (for lack of a better word) and spread it across a workbench and I stood there marveling at the schematics of a massive castle. What struck me was the bailey, the large open area inside the castle walls, that was filled with trees—like an interior forest. When I woke up, I knew I had the setting for my next book. So, was that reality? I’m not sure but I stand by the theory that my best work is done when I’m asleep.
5. Have you ever owned a rattlebang car?
Several. My first was a 1974 Daihatzu Max 360 with a top speed of 70 kms. People loved driving behind me on the motorway. Full disclosure, I found this photo online as I could not find one of my own but it is pretty much identical.
6. Which witch? Identify a favourite one from literature.
Vasya from Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, the first book from her Winternight Trilogy.
7. ‘Come dance all around the world. And see all the beauty that surrounds us.’ Words for a romantic or just being mindful?
Hmmm … I think travel is wonderful and mind-opening. It not only exposes us to perspectives beyond our own, it can reveal things about ourselves that we might not have been aware of. For instance I would not have considered myself particularly patriotic until I left New Zealand and found myself wildly excited about spotting anything New Zealand-related in the places I visited. However, the ability to travel is a privilege that is often unattainable and books provide that vital portal to worlds otherwise beyond our reach.
8. A lion in the broom cupboard or a lion in the meadow?
How about a lion in the wardrobe?
9. When have you been at your most discombobulated?
When I was writing my second book, I fell into such a monumental plot hole, I thought I’d brained my damage.
10. What is your most favourite thing to do on a summery Saturday morning?
Read in the sun!
11. In what way might you be a trickster?
When my children were little we would play hide and seek. Once I hid so well, they could not find me. Finally, I leapt out from behind a curtain recess with a powerful roar. They all screamed and burst into tears. They still love to bring that up as evidence of psychological scarring.
12. Have you ever been rewarded when looking down the back of the chair?
Never with cash, which saddens me but often with pens and that still feels like a boon.
13. A pirate for a mother or a jester for a father?
I fear I am the jester.
14. Would you babysit someone else’s shadow?
No. Too much responsibility. Also, why have they let their shadow loose? I wouldn’t trust mine roaming for a minute.
15. ‘Horrakapotchkin,’ said the cat. ‘I want to write a poem.’ Is that how it works for you?
SO MUCH. In fact, if I have not had the time or space to be creative in some way for some time, I get such a horrible, twitchy, restless feeling, like I might burst from my skin if I don’t write something or make something.
16: What I like for dinner when I am on my own is… (entertain us)
Toast or an omelet. I hate cooking for my family. I like to cook to entertain or feed a crowd but cooking for my family is a tedious business. My very picky children have broken me. I used to joke that I made dinner with the same bitter resentment with which my children ate it.
17. If you find yourself nose to nose with a shark, the only thing to do is…
Befoul the waters and die.
18. MM: ‘If things were fair, all stories would be anonymous… set free from the faults that go with its author’s name.’ Would you set your stories free in the name of anonymity?
I don’t know, I’m pretty needy and pathetic. I always want a gold star and to be patted on the head and told that I’m quite good. I like connecting with readers and there is a joy in knowing your words mean something to a person but even if no one ever said anything nice, I don’t think I could stop on account of the twitchiness I mentioned earlier.
19. You’re at a party and someone finds out what you do. What is the question they invariably ask?
Gah. I try to avoid it at all costs. It’s the usual: what do you write? How do you get your ideas? How do you publish a book? How on earth do you find the time? I had an idea for a book, I could tell you and you could write it for me and we could split the profits. How much money do you make? Oh, God, is that all? Perhaps I will change tack and tell them I am extremely famous and enormously rich.
20. Who do you go to be entertained by linguistic pyrotechnics? Or entertained by songsense nongs.
Myself.
21. Which way does your heart lie: between the stars or anchored to the trapeze?
The stars of course.
22. Would you rather be followed home by hippos or giraffes?
Giraffes. Hippos eat people and are generally terrifying.
23. Never mind a baby in the bubble. Would you rather—rice bubbles, bubble gum, Bubble O’Bill ice cream or Michael Bublé?
I like Michael Bublé from December 1st–25th, followed by an 11 month silence.
Rachael Craw
New Zealander Rachael Craw is a bestselling and award-winning writer. Her previous work
includes the Spark trilogy and The Rift. She is a high school English and Drama
teacher living in Ōtautahi Christchurch, with her husband and three daughters.