5 Ratty Things about Writing and Me

April 4th is World Rat Day. I did a little ratty thinking and came up with 5 reasons why I should celebrate.

1   I was born in the Chinese Year of the Rat. Rats are imaginative, curious, observant, honest, talkative and full of energy. That’s me -Tick. They are suited to a career as a writer. Hopefully that’s me – Tick. They are survivors. Surviving two life threatening illnesses in 4 years – that’s me – Big Tick.

2   In my Samurai Kids series, each of the characters has a Japanese animal as a totem, which reflects their personality and talents. Nezume is the Long-tailed Rat.

3   I can’t spell rat in Japanese. Quite by accident Nezume could be interpreted as a misspelling of Nezumi, the Japanese word for mouse. I didn’t know this as I made the word up but a young fan who speaks fluent Japanese emailed to politely correct my spelling. No more made up words for me!

4  Clare Strahan’s tumbler has really cool Literary Rats. I hang around there.

5    One of my favourite quotes comes from The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo. These are the words of Gregory the jailer, who is a rat. ‘Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.’

Have you got a ratty reason for celebrating? I’d love to hear it.

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