Q&A with children's author, Annaleise Byrd!

​Annaleise Byrd grew up on a farm in Queensland, ignoring most farm-related pursuits in favour of reading books. She then spent nine years in England and Canada, neglecting a variety of jobs in favour of reading books. Eventually, she realised the best way to get away with this was to become an author.
Annaleise now writes funny books for kids and lives in Brisbane with her husband, two young sons and rescue greyhound. She is particularly fond of lamingtons. Annaleise’s debut middle grade novel, Losing the Plot, was published by Walker Books Australia in March 2024.

Find Annaleise online at:
Website: annaleisebyrd.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annaleisebyrdauthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/annaleisebyrd/

Thank you to Annaleise for stopping by my blog to discuss her fabulously magical and fairytale-tastic debut children's book 'Losing the Plot!' If you have not already snagged a copy of this terrifically funny fantasy novel, here is a little blurb to entice you further.

A tremendous whooshing noise started up. It sounded like a million pages being riffled at once. I caught a strong whiff of gingerbread. Then The Complete Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm flew open and a human-shaped blur came shooting out …

Basil Beedon and Terry Clegg are neighbours, and that's all they have in common. Terry loves sport and Basil loves books – but to Basil’s absolute dismay, he’s been roped into helping Terry with his reading. Every. Single. Saturday. However, that's the least of his worries when Gretel comes shooting out of The Complete Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm. The boys are plunged into a dangerous world run by the Fairytale Alliance Network of Character Yunions (FANCY), where not everyone is what they seem, Hansel has been kidnapped and a plot hole threatens to destroy everything.

Witty, clever, with adventure at every turn, this is a fractured fairytale in a very surprising, Grimm world.

1. Thank you, Annaleise for agreeing to this Q&A! Congratulations on your debut children's novel 'Losing the Plot' just being published!
How did the idea originate in the first place and become published?
Can you share with us the moment you found out you were going to be a published novelist?

Thanks, Brenton! The idea came about when I started pondering what would happen if modern-day kids ended up in the world of Grimms’ original fairytales. Given that the original versions of those stories can be quite dark and scary, I wondered what skills modern-day kids would need to survive in that world. Then I started wondering how that world would be organised and policed, which led me to the various Yunions.

I met my publisher during a paid 15-minute manuscript assessment at the CYA Conference in 2021. It was another 7 months before I received the official publication offer via email. That moment definitely involved some screeching, leaping around the house, and calling my nearest and dearest!

2. Do you have a typical process when you write? What does the rewriting process look like for you? 

I’m the kind of writer who likes to know where the story is going before I can get started. I don’t have to know everything – in fact, the best ideas usually arrive once I’m actually writing – but I need to understand the ‘big picture’ pieces of my story, like who the villain is or which fairytales my characters are going to travel into. So I spend a lot of time thinking, researching, stream-of-consciousness writing, and sometimes discussing my ideas with someone before I feel ready to start (or, sometimes, before I can continue). As for rewriting, I do that constantly while writing – I’m terrible at following the ‘don’t edit as you go’ advice!

​I type rather than handwrite, usually at a desktop in our office or on a laptop in my favourite living room chair (see photo). These days I try to write while my family members are at work and school, but back when I was writing Losing the Plot my kids weren’t in school yet, so it was mostly written in the middle of the night!
As you can probably tell, my writing routine is neither consistent nor particularly efficient, so I wouldn’t recommend trying to emulate it – haha!

3. Having just gone through your first process of having a book accepted and edited and marketed, what have you been surprised and excited to learn about the debut publishing experience?

I love how enthusiastic and supportive people have been – both within the industry and outside of it.
I don’t know that I was necessarily surprised by this, since I’ve seen it happen to others, but it’s certainly exciting when it’s MY book it’s happening to!

4. Fairytales and humour and fantasy are huge parts of your novel.
What is your key to writing great humour?
And do you have a favourite fairytale?

I think the key to writing great humour is for the story to be told in a humorous voice or to involve humorous situations and characters.
Then the humour comes naturally rather than having to be forced in.

Before I started writing Losing the Plot, I was writing historical time slip stories.
​I think I was drawn to the idea of transporting my characters to a different place and time while still having some pre-existing characters and constraints to work with.
Then, once I started reading the original Grimms’ fairytales, I realised just how much fun they would be to play with. I don’t have a favourite fairytale, though I tend to become quite fond of whichever one I’m currently re-reading endlessly in order to write about it! Hansel and Gretel will always be special to me because of its role in Losing the Plot. But I also love some of the really weird ones that no one has ever heard of! I’ve enjoyed incorporating a few of those into Losing the Plot and the upcoming sequel, Down the Plot Hole.

5. There is a sequel to your book coming in 2025, called 'Down the Plot Hole'. You also have a picture book coming out.
Can you please share a bit more about these two books and their creation process, plus what readers can expect? 

In Down the Plot Hole, readers can expect to return to the fairytale world with Basil and Terry as they attempt to solve a new mystery. They’ll encounter familiar favourites like Hansel, Gretel and Herr Korbes, plus meet some entertaining new characters from the Grimm canon.

I started working on Down the Plot Hole as soon as I got the contract for Losing the Plot, and it took a similar amount of time to write – almost two years. It was a bit of a rollercoaster at times, but I’m really happy with how it’s turned out!

My picture book is with Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing. It involves lots of silliness and humour so is pretty on-brand for me! I’ll be able to share more about it once I get the go- ahead to do so.

At this stage there’s nothing else in the pipeline for me, but I have plenty more manuscripts and ideas, so fingers crossed!

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Magical lamingtons!

6. And for a bit of fun! Here are some fairytale-themed lightning round questions...

Favourite fairytale story world to spend a day inside of?
Hansel and Gretel, so I could eat part of the witch’s cottage!

Would you rather vacation in a gingerbread house or a tower in the forest?
A tower in the forest sounds like a great place to get some writing done…

Magical cupcakes that let you cast spells or magical lamingtons that let you jump inside books?
Lamingtons!

As in your novel, out of the groups that are subsets of FANCY (Fairytale Alliance Network of Character Yunions), which group would you be a part of?
I’d probably be in VAGUELY FANCY (Various Assorted Generic Unnamed Extras of Limited Yuse) with aspirations of being in MOST FANCY (Morally Outstanding Stars of the Tale)…

You are trapped on a island with food, water, shelter but ONLY 3 children's books to read! Which 3 books and why?
I’d cheat a little by choosing a collection of Grimms’ Fairytales so I could have 200+ stories in one book.
And then… hmm… Holes by Louis Sachar so I could analyse the awesome writing.
Thirdly, John of the Sirius by Doris Chadwick because I adored that book as a child!

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Author Annaleise Byrd hard at work in her favourite writing chair!

Thank you Annaleise for stopping by  and sharing your journey!
Do yourself a favour  and grab a copy of 'Losing the Plot' today! 

​Losing the Plot by Annaleise Byrd is published by Walker Books.
​Available now at all good bookstores!


​Find Annaleise online at:
Website: annaleisebyrd.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annaleisebyrdauthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/annaleisebyrd/

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