Questions & Answers

I come from a long line of story-spinners. Just like my mum and Grammy before me, I’ve always had a habit of making up stories. As a child, I was 100% convinced that a Little Green Man and his Fairy Queen lived in our backyard garden—and honestly, I’m still not entirely certain they don’t! I always loved how a great story could hold you completely hostage until the very last word. But it wasn’t until I had my own kids that the stories bouncing around inside my head finally spilled out onto paper. At first, they were just for us. My eldest became my co-conspirator, helping me hunt down the absolute best, most ridiculous words to use, while my youngest served as our official giggle-tester. Making them laugh with my nonsense was great, but the best part of all? The moment they suggested an idea that was even funnier than mine.

Not really! The first story I ever told happened when I was tiny, so I had to call in the ultimate expert: my mum. According to family lore, my debut masterpiece was a two-year-old’s dramatic retelling of the Prodigal Son, starring a bright turquoise toy lamb with the number 47 stamped on its side (a treasure Mum is pretty sure is still lurking somewhere in her attic). My job at the summer holiday club she helped run had been simple: hide the lamb, look utterly heartbroken, and then celebrate wildly when it was found and ‘came home’. But I couldn’t just leave it at that. I had to retell the whole saga myself—and knowing me, I undoubtedly hammed up the drama for maximum comedic effect. I like to think it was the very first time I realised how much fun it is to hold an audience in the palm of your hand ... even if you’re only two feet tall!

I wish I had a routine! The truth is, I write whenever and wherever inspiration strikes—which usually happens when the human race is being delightfully weird. I get my best ideas from eavesdropping on snippets of conversation on buses, trains, or in shop queues. (If you ever spot someone quietly giggling and typing frantically into their phone right behind you, there’s a 99% chance it’s me!) It also ignites ideas when my husband or kids say something hilarious, or when a bizarre dream wakes me up at 3:00 AM. As for how I write? Whatever is within arm’s reach! Scraps of paper, sticky notes, my phone’s notes app, or my laptop in the middle of doing something else when an idea simply refuses to be ignored. Basically, my routine is pretty chaotic—I just have to capture the spark before it floats away!

The short answer? Somewhere between two weeks and a decade! Usually, the spark of an idea hits fast, and I’ll quickly scribble down a few rhythm-riddled lines to steer me later. Then I let it percolate—bubbling away in the back of my mind while I add bits and pieces to my notes. Eventually, I surrender completely to the story and don’t come up for air until the first draft is on paper. After that comes the fun part: polishing, tweaking, and test-running lines on my family until the magic really lands.

Hamish, my debut book, took the really long scenic route—it was actually written so long ago that some of my readers weren’t even born yet! For years, it sat quietly on my laptop, only coming out to be read to our godchildren. There were no pictures back then, just us imagining all the ridiculous things Hamish and Cat were stuffing into the cavity. Everything changed when my brilliant friend Amy drew Hamish for the first time, bringing him roaring to life. After one last nap, Hamish finally tapped me on the shoulder and declared it was time. I gave the words a final polish, Amy worked her illustration magic, and voila—a ‘proper’ book was born! Hamish is absolutely thrilled to finally share his adventures with you. Cat, naturally, just wonders why it took everyone so long to recognise his genius.

Honestly, I’ll write anywhere if an idea decides to pounce! For that very first messy phase, I love curling up somewhere quiet—preferably with a nice view of the outdoors or the sea—to scribble notes on whatever paper is handy or type frantically into my phone. Once the initial dust settles, I take my scribbles to my laptop for the sorting-out into a first draft phase. My desk sits right by the window in our study, which is usually flooded with lovely sunlight... unless, of course, it’s raining like today!

Two very elusive things: time and energy! The writing part is pure joy—it’s getting my clock and my battery to line up that’s the real trick. I live with ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), which means I get ridiculously exhausted for no apparent reason and deal with plenty of pain. Some days I’ll have all the free time in the world, but my brain feels like porridge, or my fingers decide they’ve officially gone on strike and refuse to hold a pen or type. Other days, my body and brain are totally ready to roll, but adulting gets in the way and I have to do my day job instead! Finding that magical moment when time, energy, and inspiration all show up at the exact same party is a constant balancing act—but when it happens, it makes writing all the sweeter.

Honestly? Almost none! Most of what I write is pure nonsensical silliness, which thankfully doesn’t require a degree in rocket science. (Good job as mine is in interpreting and translating!) Every now and then, though, I do have to do a quick spot of fact-checking—usually to confirm something very serious, like whether giraffes can ride bicycles. (Spoiler: the internet says no. I ignored that!)

If I had to pick, drafting holds the absolute magic for me—feeling like the words are taking me on an adventure! Handing a brand-new story over to someone else for the very first time gives me butterflies. It can be tough to hear suggestions for changes, but my first readers are always my cheerleaders who want the story to shine. More often than not, their tweaks make the story a hundred times better than I could have managed alone. My other favourite moment? That super exciting day when Amy starts sending over illustrations! Seeing her bring my words to life in glorious technicolour makes me fall in love with the story all over again. As for publishing? That’s been a wild, eye-opening ride. Writing the story turns out to be the easy part—bringing it out into the world takes a whole village, a giant checklist, and a lot of hard work. But seeing a book land in a child’s hands, seeing them grin as they read or are read to? That makes every bit of effort worth it!

I count my lucky stars that classic writer’s block and I rarely cross paths—mostly thanks to what and how I write! Picture books are wonderfully punchy, which means there are far fewer words to wrangle compared to a massive novel. Once I’ve roughly bashed out a messy first draft, I work on it in short, sneaky bursts. If a stubborn line or a tricky rhyme is stumping me, I walk away. A few hours (or days!) of letting it simmer in the background, and the answer usually pops up when I least expect it. And if a block just stubbornly refuses to budge? I deploy my secret weapons: my husband, my kids, and my best friends. I’ll text or call them out of nowhere—with zero context whatsoever—demanding a rhyme for a bizarre word or a way out of a plot pickle. They haven’t failed me yet!

Mostly in a quiet patch of Oxfordshire! But I’ve also done my fair share of globe-trotting, spending significant chunks of time living in Austria, Spain, and Scotland.

Well, now you’ve opened a giant can of storybooks! Choosing just one is completely impossible! Because I spent a lot of my childhood flat on my back in a hospital bed, books became my magical window to the rest of the world. I gobbled up anything and everything I could get my hands on! My absolute favourites were Babar, Elmer the Elephant, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch by Ronda & David Armitage, Enid Blyton (especially The Famous Five), C.S. Lewis’s Narnia, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women series, and Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was also obsessed with the Nancy Drew mysteries by Carolyn Keene, and The Scimitar Trail by Gerard Wyndham. Here’s a fun fact for you: ‘Carolyn Keene’ wasn’t a real person, but a whole group of mystery writers using one shared name! Even cooler? ‘Gerard Wyndham’ was a pen name for one of those very authors—a brilliant woman who happened to be my mum’s sort-of-aunty, making her books extra special to me.

Ooh, that’s a big question! I draw inspiration from all over the place, and not all of it comes from the children’s section. For instance, Shakespeare’s comedies make me laugh right out loud—his wordplay is absolute magic, and I’d love to juggle language with that kind of effortless wizardry! I also adore the total, unadulterated nonsense of Edward Lear. Both of them gleefully invented brand-new words whenever existing ones wouldn’t do—and we’re still using heaps of them today. Talk about an incredible legacy!

When it comes to picture books specifically, I’m utterly obsessed with authors like Oliver Jeffers, Julia Donaldson, Polly Dunbar, Mick Inkpen, and Claire Freedman. Every single one of them brings pure, radiant joy to the page. Their stories are funny, full of heart, and completely spellbinding. If my books ever bring readers half as much magic as theirs do, I’ll consider it a job well done!

I still adore picture books! I love reading them to our godchildren and our friends’ little ones—though my own two kids are practically grown up now. Having older kids means my personal reading pile is wider than ever. I got hooked on murder mysteries very young, so Agatha Christie has been a perennial favourite since I was pre-teen. I find Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce mystery series thoroughly enjoyable, anything by Richard Osman is an absolute winner and the indomitable Terry Pratchett never fails to make me chuckle! When my brain is tired, I love zipping through a historical romance on my Kindle or a sci-fi graphic novel (especially anything set in the Firefly universe!). But when I’m feeling sharp, the literary world is my oyster. Right now, I’m juggling Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, Stephen Fry’s Troy, Michelle Obama’s The Light We Carry, and the second Famous Five book—which one of our six-year-old godsons kindly loaned me because he has the whole set and knows it’s a favourite!

It absolutely has to be Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott—the second book in the Little Women quartet. (Fun fact for readers in the US: the UK kept the original stories in two volumes, whereas US publishers combined them into one big book called Little Women.) When Beth died, I bawled like an absolute baby, despite being nine or ten years old. And honestly? I still do. Every single time! I reread the whole quartet every couple of years, or whenever I’m navigating a particularly bumpy patch of life. They’re the ultimate literary comfort blanket!

Oh, that is an impossible question! There is far too much incredible literature in the world to pick just one. Can I narrow it down to three? Or maybe seven?! Let’s strike a deal and settle on five:

• Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott: As I mentioned earlier, I still sob every single time!
• Zoya by Danielle Steel: A gloriously sweeping, absolute epic of a book.
• N or M? by Agatha Christie: Featuring the magnificent, irrepressible Tommy & Tuppence Beresford.
• The book of Esther from the Bible: An absolute roller coaster of a story! Better than a soap opera!!
• Where’s My Cow? by Terry Pratchett: A delightful picture book that holds so many of my favourite memories.

Hmm … looking back at that list, it’s quite the eclectic assortment – which perfectly describes my bookshelves!

I love dancing, acting, and going to the theatre, though I sadly don’t get to do any of those as much these days. Instead, a lot of my quiet time is spent reading—which is never a hardship! I also love cooking with my husband, tackling the odd jigsaw puzzle (and yes, some of them are very odd!), going for walks with one of my best friends and her opinionated dog, Sid, or just curling up on the sofa to watch something good on TV.

Every story has its own little heart! For Hamish, I really hope kids come away feeling that curiosity is a wonderful superpower, and that diving headfirst into your imagination is always an adventure worth taking.

Most of my stories are standalone adventures, but I’ve learned to never say never! Hamish might just pop up again when we least expect it, or Min might decide it’s time to steal the spotlight for her own story!

My brain is always cooking up a few mischief-filled ideas at once, so the answer is a big, enthusiastic yes! Keep your eyes peeled—the next book release is already in the works!