What was your favourite childhood book? A Christmas Carol – has there been a better tale told? Which book has made you laugh? Woody Allen’s Complete Prose. Never necessarily been a big fan of his films – but what an imaginative (and funny) writer! Which book has made you cry? The Oath by Khassan Baiev. The memoirs of a Chechen doctor attending both Russian and Chechen patients during the conflict. Not for the faint-hearted. Which book would you never have on your bookshelf? All books are good aren’t they? Mm, may be some 17-year old z-list celebrity’s complete memoirs. Which book are you reading at the moment? Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger.Which book would you give to a friend as a present? What apart from mine, you mean? Something appropriate to them. Which other writers do you admire? Sebastian Faulks, Patricia Highsmith. Recent writers: Mark Haddon, Mitch Alborn Which classic have you always meant to read and never got round to it? Anything by Charles Dickens that I haven’t already read. What are your top five books of all time, in order or otherwise? A Christmas Carol What is the worst book you have ever read? Haven’t got far enough through it to remember it. Is there a particular book or author that inspired you to be a writer? No. Just a total love of books and the wonder of storytelling. What is your favourite time of day to write? Late at night or very, very early in the morning. One, of course, could very quickly become the other. And favourite place? Anywhere without the distractions of every day that quickly and easily seduce me. Longhand or word processor? Longhand to get the rough outline of what I want to write and then laptop - where I can tweak away to my heart’s content. Which fictional character would you most like to have met? Wouldn’t mind afternoon tea with Winnie-the-Pooh. He would be able to put life into perspective I suspect. Who, in your opinion, is the greatest writer of all time? Dickens. The Lord of the Rings. Has anybody ever read it all? I, like most people, read The Hobbit as a child and wanted more. I think I made it half way through Chapter Two of Two Towers. What is your favourite word? Moist. Ah, beautiful. But I use ‘realise’ far too much. Other than writing, what other jobs or professions have you undertaken or considered? I’m a graphic designer and copywriter and make a pretence at being an artist and illustrator. What was the first piece you ever had in print? A poem called ‘The Silhouette,’ about a horse stood on a hill, for my primary school magazine. Don’t ask. What are you working on at the moment? A new novel called ‘The Price of Everything’. |