Antonia Barber really knows about ballet - her daughter studied ballet from the age of three and attended the Royal Ballet School junior associate classes at Sadlers Wells. Antonia is well-known for such best-selling picture books as The Mousehole Cat (with Nicola Bailey) and Catkin (with J P Lynch). Her novel, The Amazing Mr Blunden, was runner-up for the Carnegie Medal. Antonia lives in Kent.
PLACE AND DATE OF BIRTH:
London, England 10-12-32
FAVOURITE BOOK:
Middlemarch by George Eliot
FAVOURITE SONG:
Every Time You Say Goodbye by Ella Fitzgerald
MOST TREASURED POSSESSION:
Family Photographs
FAVOURITE FILM:
The African Queen with Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart

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When did you start writing?
I wrote my first childrens novel in 1966. My second, The Ghosts, written two years later, was a best-seller and was filmed as The Amazing Mr Blunden in 1972. Now a new film version is planned, as well as a stage musical version. My picture books for younger children include The Mousehole Cat about a fisherman and a cat who live in my Cornish cottage (see Favourite Place). Most recently I wrote Tales from the Ballet and then, for Puffin, the Dancing Shoes series about Lucy Lambert who wants to be a ballerina.

Where do you get your ideas?

Often from my own life or other peoples. The Ghosts was inspired by a visit to an old house; The Ring in the Rough Stuff by going sailing with friends on an old Thames Barge; and The Mousehole Cat by a song I found in Cornwall. For the Dancing Shoes series I had help from my daughter Gemma, who did ballet lessons from the age of three until she was fifteen.

Can you give your top three tips to becoming a successful author?

1. You must be interested in people and all ages. To create good characters, you have to be able to imagine yourself in someone elses shoes and know how they would feel.
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