Patrick Ness: Interesting Questions in Falkirk

This week's guest is the award-winning author of The Ask and the Answer, Patrick Ness, who was our guest for two Big Issue events in Falkirk...

My whirlwind day in Edinburgh turned out to be a whirlwind day in Falkirk, which I ended up not minding in the slightest.

First, Jasmine and Olivier from Scottish Book Trust drove me to Braes High School (well, Jasmine drove, Olivier dozed in the backseat), where Mrs Crosthawaite, the fantastic school librarian, led us in to their Learning Centre, where I spoke to the Accelerated English class and the library’s reading group, many of who had already read The Knife of Never Letting Go.

They were terrific, asking great questions and offering great ideas. Special thanks to Adele for volunteering facts about her life, and to the Big Issue Scotland for watching the event and interviewing some of the students after.

Then it was time for my own interview with the Big Issue before heading off to the equally terrific students at Larbert High School. Even at the end of the day, after PE class, in a very warm room, they were an attentive and funny group, asking all kinds of interesting questions (even one about “poo”). Kudos to Tommy for putting himself forward to tell us about his life.

A great day all around, finished off with a trip to Pizza Hut that – at last – offered a distant sight of Edinburgh’s castle. With confidence I can say that I’ll definitely be back.