Today on the Discover Kelpies blog we’re delighted to be hosting Lari Don as she kicks off her spectacular Spellchasers blog tour. Lari Don’s Blog Tour will also be visiting kirstyes (24th October), Golden Books Girl (25th October), Tales of Yesterday (26th October), Fanastic Book Dragon (27th October), Mr Ripley (28th October) and Much Loved Books (29th October).

Anyone who has read Lari’s books will know that she is always asking her characters difficult questions. For example, “How are you going to get out of this trap?” or “How are you going to defeat this monster?” So we decided to let the main Spellchasers characters have their turn and ask Lari some tricky questions themselves. Over to our heroes!

(Warning: contains spoilers from the Spellchasers trilogy).

Molly: Of all possible animals, why did you choose to turn me into a small vulnerable hare?

Lari: Hares are beautiful, fast and very hard to catch. Also, there are lots of old stories from the north of Scotland about women transforming into hares. And the witch who cursed you was obsessed with dogs, so it made sense for him to turn you into an animal that dogs like to chase. But if you’re getting tired of being a hare, would you prefer to be a mouse, or a snake, or a worm?

 

Innes: Why are you so negative about kelpies eating their natural diet of human beings?

Lari: – Because I AM a human being, and so are all my family and friends who live near your rivers! (Here, have a biscuit…)

Beth: – You feel sympathy for the witch who burnt my trees, don’t you? How dare you take her side rather than mine?

Lari: – She was tortured and executed in a genuinely horrible way, and her curse on your trees was a panicked reaction to that. So, yes, I do feel sympathy for her. But I’m not taking her side, I’m just trying to see both points of view. Something you very rarely do, Beth…

  

Atacama: Why do I have a job? Why do I have to work every day when all my friends get to go to school and take holidays?

Lari: I thought it made sense for a sphinx to guard a door with a riddle. And I didn’t think you’d be guarding a door as a hobby, so I made it your job. Sorry you had to dash off to work so often. But I did give you a few catnaps as well.

Toad / Theo: Innes shifts into an elegant powerful horse, but I’m a clumsy warty toad. That doesn’t seem entirely fair, does it?

Lari: Kelpies have evolved to lure humans to the water, so their out-of-the-water forms have to be attractive. You were cursed to become a toad, so your form was meant to be insulting. But Innes has tentacles under the water, so he’s not elegant all the time!

Snib: Why are you so cruel to your characters? You always take away the thing that matters most to them.

Lari: Am I cruel? I suppose I took your flight, Atacama’s riddle, Theo’s power… But if I didn’t take the things you really care about, you wouldn’t have a reason to face lots of difficult obstacles to get them back, and I need you to do that so I can write an exciting story. Maybe I am cruel, but only to create exciting stories for the readers (and for you too!)

Over to you!

Can you think of any other tricky questions the Spellchasers team, or even the baddies, might like to ask their writer? Tweet @LariDonWriter using #Spellchasers or email floris@florisbooks.co.uk. Let us know and Lari will try to answer them!

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Lari Don is a full-time children’s writer and storyteller. She grew up in the North East of Scotland and now lives in Edinburgh. She writes in her garden shed, helped by purring cats and hindered by lurking spiders. Lari has written more than 20 books, including adventure novels, picture books and retellings of traditional tales. She can be found on Twitter @LariDonWriter or at www.laridon.co.uk

The Spellchasers trilogy is available and out now.

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