A Brief Interview with Barbara O’Connor, Author of ‘Wish’

Hey guys!! Isabelle Knight back here again with another very special blog post!! Because, as I’m sure you know from the title, this blog post is actually a brief author interview with none other than the wonderful Barbara O’Connor, the author of several children’s books by now, including the one I read (and loved!), Wish!

I actually read Wish a little while ago, and it’s just such a wonderful, heartwarming book! It’s also the book that got me wishing on 11:11, and it’s one of my favorite books ever! Which is why I am just so excited to have Barbara O’Connor here with us today for this author interview!

Anyway, I should probably stop rambling now and let you hear from the author herself! 🙂 It’s a shorter interview compared to the ones I usually do, but Barbara has definitely has some great advice for young writers, and it was amazing to hear about how she wrote Wish and what the hardest (and best!) part was!

1. Hi, Barbara! I’m super glad to have you here for this interview! So to start us off, I’m curious – what do you think was the hardest part about writing Wish? What do you think was the best part?

The hardest part was being realistic about Charlie’s temper/anger while not making her unlikeable. The best part was writing scenes with Howard. He was such a good friend to her.

2. When you were younger did you always want to be a writer? Why or why not? And what made you finally decide you wanted to be one?

I always loved to write. I wrote my first “book” when I was 12. But I never thought about the fact that I could actually write as a real job. I finally decided when I was able to stay home with my son when he was a baby and I had the time to write.

3. And what made you decide to write for kids?

I adore kids. Grades 3-5 are my favorite. It seems to be my natural way of writing.

4. What did the first draft of Wish look like and how many drafts did it take to get to the final version?

To be honest, I can’t really remember what the early versions were, but I definitely did a LOT of revision.

5. And a lot of your books have become super popular, and so many kids I know have read and loved your books! What’s it like to know that so many kids around the world are reading and loving your books?

It’s the best feeling in the world. I love my job and feel so lucky.

6. (A very sneaky question I always ask all authors I meet) Do you have a secret pen name that no one knows about?

Haha. No, I don’t.

 7. And finally, what’s your advice for young writers who are just starting out and really want to get published and have their books become a huge success?

The best advice is to write what you love and make it the best it can be. Remember to SHOW instead of TELL. (for instance, instead of TELLING “he was mad” – SHOW him being mad (He stormed out of the room and slammed the door. Also, try to include a lot of details so the reader can visualize the action/scenes.

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Hello! And this is me, Isabelle, back here again!!! (waves) This interview was really so much fun to put together, and I actually was not expecting her to reply at all! But she did! So hurray!!! It was amazing to hear Barbara’s answers to all these questions, and to get a bit of an insight into how she wrote her fantastic book, Wish!

Barbara, thank you so much for joining me here for this author interview!! I’m so incredibly grateful, and it was amazing to have you here! 🙂 And I definitely look forward to seeing what project you’re working on next!

And thank you guys so much for coming!!! I hope you enjoyed this author interview and that you enjoyed hearing Barbara’s answers to these questions! And I also hope that you’ll check out her books! They truly are fantastic!

Anyway, I’m afraid that’ll have to wrap up the author interview for now! So adios, cheerio, and I shall see you again soon!!! 🙂

Isabelle