Featured Interview With Sarah Neofield
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in regional South Australia before living in Japan for a year. Always fascinated by language, I completed a PhD in applied linguistics in 2010. At the age of 30, I resigned from my position as a university lecturer to travel, and have since visited over 60 countries.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always been fascinated by books. In kindergarten, I used to stay inside and make books while everyone else was playing outdoors, and by the age of five, I knew I wanted to be an author. I’ve never really stopped writing, but I got back into creative writing around six or seven years ago.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love reading books that are funny, that make me think, and especially, both. Catch-22 is a great example of this – one of the few books that managed to make me both laugh out loud and shed real tears. I also enjoy books by Margaret Atwood, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, PG Wodehouse, George Orwell and so many more. Satire is my favourite genre, but it’s not so easy to find!
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My debut novel, Number Eight Crispy Chicken, follows the misadventures of an immigration minister stranded in a foreign airport. From conception to publication, it took three years almost to the day. I began writing Number Eight Crispy Chicken while stuck in an airport myself, and when I thought about what character I could place in this situation, who might learn and grow based on the experience, an immigration minister who has made a career out of locking up asylum seekers sprang to mind:
The immigration minister has been detained.
Minister for Asylum Deterrence and Foreign Investment, Peter Ruddick, is en route to the remote Pulcherrima Island, the site of his latest privately-run, fast food chain-inspired detention centre. But chaos ensues when Peter misses his connecting flight and finds himself confined to the visa-free zone of the Turgrael airport, without a business lounge in sight.
Stranded in a foreign territory with nothing but McKing’s Crispy Chicken burgers to eat and nobody but a bleeding heart liberal, his seat-mate Jeremy Bernard for company, Peter’s misunderstandings of Turgistani language and culture result in his arrest on suspicion of terrorism, perversion, and espionage. Peter has always had the power to get away with just about anything, but how will he sweet talk his way out of this one? What if he winds up – like those in his centres – indefinitely detained?
‘Hilarious’ and ‘powerful’, Number Eight Crispy Chicken is a carefully researched, funny, and thought-provoking read for fans of the social novels of Tressell, Orwell, Dickens, and Vonnegut.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
Sarah Neofield’s Website