Margaret Buffie - Author
Margaret Buffie received a degree in Fine Art from the University of Manitoba in 1967. After graduating, she worked as an illustrator for the Hudson's Bay Company before obtaining a teaching certificate in 1976. One summer in the early 1980s, Buffie found an old, abandoned garbage dump on a small island near her cottage in northwestern Ontario. Digging around, she found some interesting bottles and a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles. “I wondered what would happen if I put them on and could see into the past,” she says. That idea formed the premise of her award-winning first novel, Who Is Francis Rain?
Buffie went on to write numerous critically acclaimed novels for young adults, including My Mother's Ghost, The Watcher's Quest series, The Dark Garden, and Angels Turn Their Backs, which won the Children's Book Council Children's Choices Award and the Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award. Her latest novel, Out of Focus, was named an Ontario Library Association Best Bet. In 1996, Buffie received the prestigious Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature in recognition of her outstanding body of work. She lives with her husband in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Birthplace?
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Birthday?
My birthday is March 29th — I'm an Aries. Apparently we're quite bossy. There are some people I know who'd agree with that. I don't, of course!
Where do you live now?
In a big old house in Winnipeg.
How did you get involved with children's books?
My daughter was 14 when I started to write. I was reading the books she read and I'm ashamed to admit that I had no idea that some of the best writers in the world write not for adult readers, but for younger readers. When I decided to write, I wanted to create a young adult book for Christine — and for me.
Do you have a favorite book?
I don't have just one favorite. I have many favorites. I'd have to say Persuasion by Jane Austen is definitely one. My daughter and I read it when she was about 15 or so,and it's one of her favorites, too.
Do you have any pets?
Yes, I have a new Schnoodle pup named Brodie. A Schnoodle is a cross between a poodle and a schnauser.
What was your training or schooling?
I have a Fine Arts degree from the University of Manitoba. But any training or schooling I received with regards to writing came from the best teachers in the world — by reading other writers!
Do you have any tips for young creators?
Only one. Well ... one repeated over and over again! Read, read, read the kind of books you want to write.
What is the thing you like the most about creating kids' books?
I like living in the worlds that I create. I like getting to know and to love the characters (yes, even the unlikable ones!) and I love hearing from young readers who feel the same way!
Where do you work?
A few years ago Jim and I bought a house that is almost a hundred years old. So, while he's repairing walls, painting baseboards and repairing stone basement walls, I work in a small cozy office overlooking the huge elms on our street. I painted the room a cranberry red with white trim and it gives me a lift every time I walk into it.
Where do you get your ideas?
My ideas seem to come from all sorts of places. The idea for Who is Frances Rain? came from finding a pair of old spectacles on an island near our summer cabin. I still have the spectacles. The idea for Angels Turn Their Backs came from living with a family member who suffered from the illness called agoraphobia. The Watcher came to me from reading about stone circles like Stonehenge and the magic and mystery surrounding them. Each idea seems to arrive at just the right time — when I'm least expecting it! Then I start asking myself questions. When I feel the urge to explore those questions and try and answer them, then I know I've got a story percolating! If I need to do research, I do it through the library or on the Internet.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I was always a scared little kid so, quite honestly, I was just hoping to GROW UP — without anything bad happening to me — like monsters under my bed dragging me off to turn me into Sunday dinner or any other scary thing I could think up at any given moment! But once I got over that (I think I was about 18!), I wanted first and foremost to be an artist and, if I couldn't make a million at that, I'd be a writer. I'm still waiting for that million, but that's okay because, as it turns out, I love writing!
Do you have any special secrets or insights about one of your books or characters?
I think a lot of the girls I write about feel as if they are alone in their struggles with life and with growing up. Some handle it with humor, others just sort of muddle through. I was lonely a lot when I was young. I often use the supernatural to explore that “aloneness” and to show the main character how they can find a good, natural and healthy way to grow up. However, writing about Addy in Angels Turn Their Backs was really the hardest for me, as I knew how difficult it would be to write about a girl who had terrible, debilitating panic attacks without making it too gloomy or “down.” I think Victor, the African gray parrot, helped lighten the story. Victor also happens to be one of my favorite characters.