Nat Amoore is a Sydney-based writer whose debut novel Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire came out in 2019 and became Dymocks ‘Kids Book of the Year.’ She recently published her fourth book ‘We Run Tomorrow.’ Press Gang reporter Mia is Nat’s biggest fan.
Press Gang: Do, do you have any siblings?
Nat: Yes. I have one brother, his name is Dane.
Tessa’s Brother Dane in Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire is based on my brother Dane. He was a, like, total pain in the butt, uh, when I was growing up. Um, made my life a nightmare, but now he’s actually really lovely and I like him a lot.
Do you have any famous relatives?
Nat: My auntie was an Olympic runner. She won a bronze medal.
Press Gang: Where did you grow up?
Nat: I grew up on the Mornington Peninsula, down in Southern Victoria.
What’s your favourite book?
Nat: Growing up, my favourite book was this book, Sky Maze by Jillian Rubenstein. I was obsessed with this book. I still read it once a year, even though I’m like not a kid anymore.
And there’s another book called Vincent in the Grandest Hotel on Earth, by Lisa Nickel. Um, that’s a newer one that I really, really love.
Where did you get the inspiration for your books?
Really good question. So, Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire, I actually read a little article in a newspaper about a girl in America who got busted with like $20,000 in her locker. The article didn’t say anything about where it came from or anything, it said it’s under investigation. And that was it – I was like, ‘Where did a 10-year-old get $20,000?’ And I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.
So the opening scene of Secrets of the Schoolyard Millionaire where she’s being walked down the hallway and she opens her locker and all the money falls out, that was like the first scene in my brain. And then I came up with a big explanation about why a kid would have money in their locker.
How is it working with someone with Tourettes Syndrome?
So Jess, the girl that I worked with on the Right Way to Rock is hilariously funny. She just has the best attitude towards life and is an amazing person. With Jess having Tourettes, in the beginning you notice she says, biscuit, all the time. So every four or five words, it’s biscuit, biscuit, biscuit, biscuit, biscuit. In the beginning you’re kind of like, wow, that’s a lot of biscuits. But after you talk to Jess for a while, you don’t even notice anymore. Your brain kind of filters it out and you don’t really notice because you’re listening to what she’s saying. And she’s so smart and intelligent and funny. That’s why in the book I wanted to have Flynn speak in a similar way. And after a while, I don’t think you really notice him saying Gerkin as much.
Do you like musicals?
I’m obsessed. When I was in school I wanted to be in every single musical production the school did. Me too. Every time a musical comes out here in Sydney, I’ll go and see it. I recently saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I saw Moulin Rouge, I saw Hairspray. So yeah, I’m totally obsessed.
When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
When I was a kid I think I probably would’ve liked to have been a writer, but I didn’t think it was possible because I was from a little country town and I thought to be a writer you had to be like either British or American
Then when I went to film school, I started writing for screen. I wanted to be a movie writer to begin with and then I decided to try writing books. I’ve always liked writing and storytelling.
Why is it important that kids have an access to a wide range of books?
I say this all the time – not only should kids have access to a range of lots of different books, but also lots of different authors. I think it’s really important to have kids meet authors who are like crazy and energetic like I am or who are shy and a little bit quieter or who write happy books or sad books. And I think it’s important for kids because it’s like eating right even though you might really, really like spaghetti, you don’t wanna eat spaghetti for every single night of your entire life.
And also the books need to have characters that look different and sound different and act different and do different things. So otherwise life’s boring and books are just life in written form.
What type of books do you enjoy reading?
Middle grade is my favourite, which is why I write it as well. I like contemporary realism. I like a bit of fantasy, I like funny books and I quite like books that make me cry as well.
Of all the characters you have created, which one is your favourite and why?
Flynn would be one of my favorites from The Right Way to Rock, because he’s just, he’s just such a good person – he is very funny and I would love to be Flynn’s friend.
Do you believe in aliens?
I think I do. I have a theory behind this, knowing how ginormous the universe is, I think it would be weirder if we were the only living creatures. It would be weird if we were the only ones and I wouldn’t understand why.
If you are a budding writer you might like to check out this on-line writer course hosted by Nat and Tim Harris.
