This month we’re featuring Heather McQuillan, whose new novel for young adults, Truth Needs No Colour, is released this month. Heather teaches writing, and writes short fiction and poetry and novels for young people.
1. Describe yourself in three words:
Diligent, deliberative, daydreamer.
2. During the height of adolescence, was it a good changeover?
It was a precarious time as things I thought I understood turned out to be something else. When asking questions got non-answers or angry reactions, things unraveled.
3. Are you haunted by a particular memory?
I don’t form pictures in my mind—a condition called aphantasia. This means I don’t visually retain memories, but at times, I am haunted by physical sensations. One of those hauntings is a motorcycle crash.
4. MM: ‘Imagination is the creative use of reality.’ Is this true for you?
Yes. My brain often takes me from the real world and asks ‘what if?’. Reality has a way of sliding into my imaginary worlds. It would be chaotic the other way around!
5. Have you ever owned a rattlebang car?
More than once. My first car was a yellow Fiat 128 with a black racing stripe and a dud heater. I had to wrap up warm on Southland winter mornings. My current car (an orange Swift) was only a few days old when it had to contend with earthquake-shattered roads. It is still going strong but has developed creaks and rattles.
6. Which witch? Identify a favourite one from literature.
Only one? First up, I thought of the three weird sisters in Macbeth. I love the interplay of prophecy, paganism and power. Then Lady Jessica from the Dune series came to mind, so add in politics!
7. ‘Come dance all around the world. And see all the beauty that surrounds us.’ Words for a romantic or just being mindful?
I longed to be a ballerina when I was six but was afflicted with what my mother called ‘two left legs’ (not literal). Two years ago I decided to pursue my childhood dream and am now a Silver Swan. I still waltz into furniture.
8. A lion in the broom cupboard or a lion in the meadow?
In the meadow, surrounded by wild flowers, buzzing insects and birdsong.
9. When have you been at your most discombobulated?
When someone is telling blatant lies, and I know they are telling blatant lies, but I cannot understand the point!
10. What is your most favourite thing to do on a summery Saturday morning?
I do my favourite thing most Saturday mornings—I welcome over a hundred young writers into creative writing classes and watch the magic happen. In the holidays, I love to swim at the beach, walk at the beach, or sit on the rock and stare at the ocean. Or write. I can still see the waves from my writing room window.
11. In what way might you be a trickster?
My grandchildren have learned that Nana is a trickster and don’t believe anything I say. My son, though, has never forgiven me for letting him believe Road Slumps are small furry creatures who burrow under the tarmac. He kept a lookout for them every time we went past a road sign warning ‘Watch Out for Road Slumps’.
12. Have you ever been rewarded when looking down the back of the chair?
Yes, a squashed chocolate, still well-wrapped in foil, and delicious.
13. A pirate for a mother or a jester for a father?
My mother was a pirate with a treasure chest full of books, stories and puppets.
14.Would you babysit someone else’s shadow?
That feels like a huge responsibility, but if they asked nicely … I find it hard to say no.
15. ‘Horrakapotchkin,’ said the cat. ‘I want to write a poem.’ Is that how it works for you?
Some of my most exciting writing happens when I sit down, stare at a blank page and my pen writes something while my brain catches up.
16: What I like for dinner when I am on my own is… (entertain us)
Spaghetti Puttanesca. I make the sauce earlier in the day so all the flavours of garlic, tomatoes, olives, capers, and anchovies have time to amalgamate. Because I eat it alone, I can slurp as noisily as I like.
17. If you find yourself nose to nose with a shark, the only thing to do is…
Remain calm, maintain eye contact, and slowly back away while minimising splashing and sudden movements …
Ummmm … I put that as a public service announcement, although in times of crisis I have become calm and robotic so maybe I would actually follow that advice.
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 have. Last year I won a flash fiction prize under a pseudonym and no one knows! I particularly like competitions where the judges read ‘blind’ without knowing who wrote the poem or story. That way it is only the writing they can judge.
19. You’re at a party and someone finds out what you do. What is the question they invariably ask?
A few true stories:
‘Do you do the illustrations too?’ (A common one. I write novels.)
‘Can you really call yourself an author, though?’ (That was because I only had two books published and this person thought you’d need at least three to be an author!)
‘Are you planning to write books for adults?’ (I already have but that’s not the point!)
‘I have written a book. Will you read it and give me feedback?’ / ‘Oh, let me put you onto some people who make their living doing that.’ / ‘You mean I’d have to pay?’.
20. Who do you go to be entertained by linguistic pyrotechnics? Or entertained by songsense nongs.
I attend regular poetry events in Ōtautahi Christchurch where the linguistic pyro-techniques sizzle and pop. A few local poets’ names come to mind for their playfulness with the sounds and meanings of words: Gail Ingram, Lee Fraser, James Norcliffe, Josiah Morgan … The poetry scene in Ōtautahi Christchurch is abuzz with wordplay!
21. Which way does your heart lie: between the stars or anchored to the trapeze?
In the spaces between the stars but viewed secured to the earth, from a grassy hill far from city lights. None of this dizzying heights stuff for me.
22. Would you rather be followed home by hippos or giraffes?
100% giraffes. They are so elegant and have the most beautiful eyes and eyelashes. My perfect pet would be a miniaturised giraffe—but what if their necks shrank because they no longer needed to reach high for leaves? Rethinking that one.
23. Never mind a baby in the bubble. Would you rather—rice bubbles, bubble gum, Bubble O’Bill ice cream or Michael Bublé?
Rice bubbles, mixed with honey and butter and not nearly as much sugar as the recipe calls for, set in the fridge and cut into squares. Oh, I haven’t had those in ages!
(Note to self: add rice bubbles to the shopping list.)
Heather McQuillan
Heather McQuillan is an award-winning writer based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. In 2005 she won the Tom Fitzgibbon Award and three of her novels for young people were selected as Storylines Notable Books: Mind Over Matter (Scholastic, 2006), Nest of Lies (Scholastic, 2011), and Avis and the Promise of Dragons (The Cuba Press, 2019). Her most recent books are Avis and the Call of the Kraken (The Cuba Press, 2024) and Truth Needs No Colour (Cloud Ink Press, 2025). In 2021 Heather was the University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence. She also writes short fiction and poetry, for which she has received awards including: Radio NZ Short Story Prize 2022, National Flash Fiction Winner 2016 (and a finalist for many years), Best Small Fictions (International) 2017, 2019 and 2020. Heather has a Master of Creative Writing with distinction from Massey University and her thesis collection of short stories was published in the UK as Where Oceans Meet (Reflex Press, 2019). Heather is the director of Write On School for Young Writers where she works to give agency to young writers.