Q & A

Throughout the past years, Cornelia has been asked countless questions by her readers. We have compiled a collection for you, that will keep growing.

Do you have other jobs besides being an author?

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Being an author means having many jobs: writing, answering emails, having meetings, recording audiobooks, travelling...

Do you have children?

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I have a daughter and a son. Anna works as a restorer and Ben composes and produces music and works as a DJ.

Do you like the film adaptations of your books?

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Selling movie rights means accepting the fact that the richness of a novel needs to be shrunk for the big screen. Which makes TV so much more interesting. But I find it unacceptable when an adaptation changes my characters – which, for example, happened with Dragonrider.

Where do you get the names of your characters?

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I have name dictionaries, and I scan through them until I find a good name that fits the character. I sometimes also get names from plant dictionaries and animal dictionaries.

Could you give me your thoughts about the joy of reading?

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I was raised in a little town and the world was very small. And only the books opened a thousand windows. And they whispered the promise that the world is a wild and adventurous place.

Could you give me a tip of what can I do as training to be a future writer?

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Always have a pen and a notebook with you. Collect ideas and stories like pebbles wherever you go. And be curious about others and yourself and everything in the world. Always write your first draft by hand into a notebook. The computer takes all the playfulness and fools you to believe the first draft is already in print.

What is your source of strength?

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The world with all its visible and invisible wonders, good friends, anything that creeps and flies and swims and grows, and some very good-natured gods or/and angels who will stand by you, when nothing else could help.

I want to know if your location influences your writing?

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Location is like an another character for me. A very important character. It gives the story it's flavour and when I research it gives me a thousand ideas. Location is the canvas the story is painted on.

Could you tell me what book you are most proud of that you have written?

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I cannot answer that question, as that would be like wondering which of my children is my favourite. The ones that were hardest to write were the ones where I wanted to change my style for the story- The Thief Lord and Reckless. If you'd like to know which one I am most passionate about — that's always the one I am working on.

Does what you read influence how or what you write?

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Every book I have read so far — the good ones and the bad ones — influenced my writing.

Why should people read?

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First of all- why should they eat chocolate? Because it makes incredibly happy. On a more serious note: because it builds windows and doors when the world seems narrow, because it shows us that we are not alone with what we fear and love, that someone found words for what we may not know how to express, because it shows us that the world can wear a thousand costumes, because it feeds our souls and hearts and brains, because it teaches us to create images in our minds, that are uniquely ours, because......it can make us hear the heart beat of the world.

Do you own a typewriter?

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No, I was never a friend of typing machines. I dreaded them. My first typing friend was a laptop called Mad Max!

What's your favourite plant?

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Oh there are many! There is a German flower called Akelei, I don't know the English name, then there is a Chinese bush the humming birds in my garden in Malibu loved to feed on, the lilies in the ponds, the old roses, full of scents and blossom leaves, but also humble plants like Thyme, Camomile, Mint ... I am quite sure I was a witch in a former life, so I cannot live without plants and, of course, I talk to them.

What is your biggest fear?

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I was VERY afraid of spiders until the age of twenty, when I became the owner of a chicken stable. It was so infested with spiders of all kinds that I either had to forget about my fear or have my chicken starve. The fear disappeared like early morning mist and now I can even deal with the Black Widows in my garden.

There is no better feeling than meeting a fear and walking right through it. I am still afraid of deep water though as I am a very bad swimmer :) Otherwise I am quite fearless.

What is your most precious memory?

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The birth of my two children – but in the past years so many precious memories have piled in my heart, that for the rest I can’t choose one. They are all about meeting people, finding new friends, working together – my memories oft he past years are like a box of treasures, and I am sure, there will be a time, when I will like to open it and look at them still shining.

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