Wendy's Answers (Updated 5.13.08) How much input into the movie did you have? I was involved in writing the first two drafts of the screenplay with Paula Mazur and Joe Kwong. Why was the movie a bit different to the book? E.g. the Troppo Tourists actually making it onto the island… The screenwriters who wrote the last drafts of the screenplay (Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett) decided to do that, to make it more dramatic to watch. A film has to show everything visually that a book tells you, so some things have to be changed. Did you enjoy writing the Nim's Island? Very much. How long did it take you to write the book Nim's Island? 18 months How long did it take to make the movie? 4 1/2 years what is your favorite part in nims island? - Antonia Nim riding Selkie you are a cool author - Donkey Thank you! how old are you? - Mico Old enough to do what I want, and young enough to do it! how did you feel when you found out nims island was made in to a movie? - Rachel HOORAY! I loved it. Wendy Is there a message you want children to get from your book or is it for entertainment? Did you get to agree in the differences between the book and the film? Tell me about the negotiation - Mandy With all my books, I write because it's a story I want to tell - so it's for entertainment, but if I care about a story enough to write it, I hope it has some meaning too. Is your Dad's name Chuck. If so, I taught your sister, Pauline in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. - Diana No, that must be another Wendy Orr! Hi wendy, do you come to schools and talk about your books? I teach grade 3 in Mooroolbark Victoria Australia and we would love to hear you talk about your books. We have just finished Nim's island and by popular request, we have started Nim at Sea today. - Jennie I do a limited number of school talks though I am probably booked out now till at least fourth term - contact Show and Tell Agency: 03 9818 6518, or info@showtell.com.au. what are some of your favorite hobbies? - Justine Reading, tai chi, walking - especially in the bush (forest) or at the beach My name is Chris M. and I am the Head of MS English at *** *** Grammar School, Melbourne. I'm looking for a group of professional or semi-professional writers to act as mentors for a class of Year 9 students doing a writing course and I would love you to be one. You wouldn't have to meet with the kids, but rather, read a couple of drafts of a piece they are working on and offer some sage advice. You'd need to maybe email them two or three times at the most over a period of about 10 weeks. I'm hoping to get 15 writers, so that each student could have their own private mentor. I'd like to set this up for Term 3 (that's around the middle of July) Are you interested? I'm really sorry, but I'm never confident in offering advice on other people's writing. This sounds like a wonderful project, but I'll have to decline. whats your nick name - Cameron I don't have one! hi.i love the movie Nims island. Where you a character in it.thanks antonia I'm the very first person in the airport scene, in a black coat and bright scarf, putting my bag on the conveyor belt for the security Xray is alex rover real and how in the world did you be so creative - Sammy Alex Rover is real in my imagination. Being creative is a bit like what the Alex Rover hero says in the movie about being brave - it's a choice you have to make every day. You have to decide not to be afraid of being silly, or being wrong, and then just let your imagination have fun. Hello!!! How did you get the idea to "Nim's island" (it's my favourite book)? And where is the island? (Please don't think about how i wrote this;I'm German;););) Thanks Marina You can see the answer to your first question a couple lines below. And thank you! I'm glad it's your favourite book! The island is hidden in the South Pacific. Thanks Marina How funny! There aren't that many Wendy Orr's around - and I used to live in Colorado too! However, I'm sorry, but I don't intend to change my domain name. How did you get the idea for the great book you wrote Nim's Island - Shravan Nim’s Island began in two separate ways. I started playing with the idea of a girl writing to an author after I received two letters one week from girls who wanted me to write a book about them. I had to tell them that I simply can't work like that – the ideas for a book have to spring from my own imagination, but that they should think about writing their own stories. However, the letters started me on a writer's favourite game: what if. So... what if an arrogant author brushed off a little girl whose life was in fact much more interesting than anything the author could invent? I played with this idea for quite a while, several months or a year, and it became clear to me that the reason the girl's life was so interesting was that she lived on an island. It still took ages to come to life, until on about the tenth draft, I suddenly remembered and really relived a story I wrote when I was 8 – about a little girl who ran away from her orphanage to live alone on Spring Island. That story was inspired by my fascination with two tiny islands we used to pass on the ferry going to visit my grandparents on Vancouver Island. I absolutely longed to live on one of them! But maybe because I knew it wasn't going to happen, or maybe because I've always been a story teller, the girl I saw living there wasn't me, in my family; she was an extraordinarily brave, capable and inventive girl. And, probably because I had just read and loved Anne of Green Gables, it was obvious to me that she was an orphan. And so, finally, when I put myself back into the story I'd written when I was 8, Nim came to life and appeared on the page pretty much as you see her now. how old where you when you wrote ark in the park - tayla 35 Hi Wendy, my daughter and I have just finished both Nim books, and been to see 'Nim's Island' at the movies - we have loved sharing Nim's adventures, and wondered if there might be a third book in the offing??? Please??? Cheers, Helen & Rosie Thanks for asking! I'm not sure yet - but I certainly would like to spend some more time with these characters... what is your favorite book you wrote so far??? - Brenna A 3-way tie: Ark in the Park, Nim's Island and Nim at Sea I love them each differently, it's too hard to choose. What is the book about Nim that was made into the movie-'Nims Island'? - Christie S. The book is also named Nim's Island, written by Wendy Orr. hello, i was wondering why the book has different titles in each country? thanks crystal Each country translates the title into their own language, but sometimes, especially in books like Peeling the Onion, an exact translation of the words might not make sense, or it might simply not make a good title, so the publisher will change it into something that people speaking that language are more likely to find interesting enough to pick up the book! Occasionally a character's name has to be changed in a translation because their name is a word in that language - eg I believe Nim's name has been changed in the Korean edition, because nim had an unsuitable meaning.. And sometimes, as in the German edition of Nim's Island, a publisher simply feels that there could have been a better title. After all, the most important thing about a title is that it should make someone who's never heard of that book before want to pick it up and find out more, so that's more important than having an exact translation of what I've said.