1) Which of your authors is most likely to have an incriminating video floating around?
Bryony Pearce: I reckon that would be Miriam - she looks like she has a bit of a naughty side and her books Hidden and Illegal show a definite affinity with the dark side of her creations! On the other hand, Dave must have all sorts of incriminating evidence from his days in the music industry. Come on, Dave, fess up!
Keren David: I think it's probably Katie as an actor, who knows what she's performed in.
Paula Rawsthorne: I'd be disappointed if it wasn't Miriam!
Savita Kalhan: I think Keren – she can’t have been good all the time, can she...?
Miriam Halahmy: Savita of course - I mean, have you SEEN her book trailer for The Long Weekend - its littered with DNA.
Katie Dale: Erm, no comment.
Dave Cousins: Katie's answer to this one sounds like a confession to me, so I'd say Katie. As for me, Bryony, – thankfully most of the incriminating evidence from my time in the band was burnt along with my leather trousers. Anything that survived I will deny as malicious fabrication!
Sara Grant: I suppose it’s how you define ‘incriminating’. I do hope they are all smart enough to have destroyed any evidence.
2) Which of your authors would you vote class clown?
Savita Kalhan: That would be Dave for me! I would have loved to have gone to school with him – I’m sure it would have been so much fun.
Bryony Pearce: 'Dave' - only he would have come up with a wig for our introductions at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference last year in Winchester. Interesting that the main character in his debut novel Fifteen Days Without A Head is also a bit of a cross-dresser!
Keren David: Dave is class clown - he's got so many hats that one of them has to be a clown's.
Paula Rawsthorne: Dave with his cunning disguises.
Miriam Halahmy: Bryony, Angel’s Fury is sooo serious, she has to lighten up elsewhere.
Katie Dale: Dave, definitely! I wish I'd gone to school with him too!
Sara Grant: I think there’s a consensus here – Dave Cousins. But I’d change the tense of the question. He is the class clown. And the great thing is he is able to translate his sense of humor onto the page. Check out Fifteen Days Without A Head.
Dave Cousins: I'm honored to be voted class clown, though I should confess that I was very sensible when I was at school, so you didn't miss much. The clowning came later. I reckon for all our proclaimed edginess, the Edge could actually have quite a successful side-career as a clown troupe. Now where did I put my make-up …
3) Which of your authors may, or may not, have a body in their basement?
Bryony Pearce: I don't even have a basement, so it isn't me ... although the kids have come close to being interred in the attic without a ladder once or twice!
Keren David: Savita is most likely to have a body in the basement - that dark, dark imagination, on display in The Long Weekend, can't spring out of nowhere.
Paula Rawsthorne: I suggest someone takes a shovel down into Savita's basement A.S.A.P. Mind you, you might want to check Keren's as well.
Savita Kalhan: I’ve discovered that I don’t like houses with basements. If I lived in one I would have to have it bricked up. I hope that’s not because of the temptation to use it, because it is, of course, the perfect place to hide a body... And now I have seen some responses to this question from fellow Edge authors, I’m slightly concerned...
Miriam Halahmy: All of them – it’s an entry requirement of The Edge.
Bryony Pearce: Hmmm, interesting that Savita is the only one who mentions the great temptation to hide a body…maybe she’s had a Weekend at Bernie’s style Long Weekend of her own.
Katie Dale: Hmm that's a toughie - Savita and Keren are the obvious choices, but it's always the quiet ones...Miriam.
Dave Cousins: Body in the basement. Tough one that, especially if I guessed right. I'd say Bryony - even though she claims not to have a basement (the lady protests too much!) There's some dark stuff going on in her head if Angel's Fury is anything to go by. Plus she lives the furthest away from me, so probably won't fancy coming all this way to sort me out!
Sara Grant: Well, there is definitely a darkness in Angel’s Fury – a tale of fallen angels and haunted dreams – and Savita’s The Long Weekend is beyond chilling. Keren had to know a lot about crime for her books – When I Was Joe and Almost True. I suppose you have to have some ‘issues’ to be in this crazy writing business, but there aren’t a lot of basements in the UK. Maybe if you’d said back garden….
4) Which of your authors would you want to have your back in a fight?
Keren David: Miriam's big smile would disarm any assailant in a fight - at least for long enough for me to run away.
Bryony Pearce: I'd say Sara - she would definitely kick ass on our behalf if necessary. Just like Neva from her book Dark Parties – I’d want either of them at my back.
Paula Rawsthorne: Katie- she could diffuse any fight by performing a moving, one act play, accompanied by Bryony's angelic singing.
Bryony Pearce: I'm actually completely tone deaf, Paula! My singing likely to set off a bomb rather than defuse anything!
Paula Rawsthorne: I refuse to believe that, Bryony. You look like you should have a heavenly voice.
Savita Kalhan: Definitely Miriam for me! She would be eloquent and understanding and listen to both sides, but she’s very loyal and wouldn’t simply stand by and watch while you were being beaten to a pulp, figuratively of course.
Miriam Halahmy: Keren - check out her blog if you don't believe me, and if like Ty in When I Was Joe, always make sure Keren’s on your side in a newspaper interview.
Dave - gives the impression of being tough ( bald head, etc.)
Paula - she'd never let anything go by her!
Bryony - say no more!
Katie Dale: All of them! Keren would definitely pull no punches, I'm pretty sure Savita and Miriam know some moves, Bryony and Paula are definitely tough cookies, and Dave must have a scary hat in his collection!
Savita Kalhan: Did I tell you all that I did jujitsu (to brown belt) stick fighting and still box...
Keren David: I did women's sport fighting, which was a blend of judo, wrestling and akido. A long time ago, mind you.
Bryony Pearce: I nearly got suspended for fighting when I was ten. Nothing professional mind - not like the increasingly scary Savita and Keren.
Keren David: I loved sport-fighting. Unfortunately, the (slightly weird) guy who taught it went off to be a missionary in New Zealand. He epitomised muscular Christianity.
Miriam Halahmy: I refuse to discuss my fighting days growing up in West London - we didn't have classes...
Dave Cousins: I reckon I could rely on any one of the Edge to back me up in a fight. I certainly wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of any of them! But if I had to choose one – I'd say Paula, though Keren sounds quite handy, whatever sport-fighting is.
Sara Grant: I think all the EDGE can throw down with the best of them. I think we are more pens than swords type of people.
Dave Cousins: I've just seen Miriam's chilling final remark about not being prepared to discuss her fighting days. That sign off – we didn't have classes … (run away!)
5) Finally, which of your authors is the caretaker of the group?
Keren David: Sara's our caretaker. She's patient, always kind and nice, and manages to keep the group together, work really hard and write fabulous books.
Paula Rawsthorne: Our caretaker- no contest- it's Sara. We'd fall apart without her. She's incredible!
Savita Kalhan: That’s Sara. The Edge was her brainchild and she’s every bit the leader and keeper of the order within this motley crew.
Miriam Halahmy: Sara - no contest - founder, leader, indefatigable, never takes no for an answer - a real star.
Katie Dale: No contest, it's Sara 100% We love her.
Bryony Pearce: I'd say Sara is the caretaker of the group. It really was her baby and I'm sure we'd be lost without her!
Dave Cousins: The caretaker is Sara, no question. Without her, there would be no Edge. She is the Edge Queen, Commander in Chief of all things Edgy – I mean, have you read Dark Parties? I need say no more…
Sara Grant: Aw, thanks guys! The great thing about the EDGE is that my lovely fellow authors are equal parts edgy, comedian, caretaker -- and genius!
We hope you enjoyed the interview! Here's a little about THE EDGE in their own words:
Thanks for inviting The EDGE on TEEN SHIVER. We are a group of UK-based authors writing what we hope is engaging fiction for young adults and teens. All our books are different, but what they have in common are gripping tales with teenagers at their heart. Our books tackle a variety of difficult subjects – abandonment, asylum seekers, child abduction, diversity, knife crime, medical ethics, rebellion, the search for identity and witness protection, to name a few. For more information about EDGE authors, check out our blog or follow us on Twitter.
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