Quick Fire Questions with.... ME!

Which 3 writers, living or dead, would you invite to dinner?

Enid Blyton (I’d love to know if she were really THAT bad)
Stephen Fry (well… he writes, doesn’t he?)
Keris Stainton (‘cos we’d have such a laugh with Stephen – and he might even bring David Mitchell if we asked nicely. No, not the writer, the comedian. So? Who’s question is this anyway?)

Favourite writing snack?

None. Bits get in between the keys and then it irritates me when I can’t get them out and I end up getting a row of uuuuuuuuuuuuu’s across the screen and…well, it’s just too messy.

Background music?

Tried it a few times. I’m sure I SHOULD have some Mantovani or Vivaldi (or even Paulo Nutini) weaving its way through my creative core but it’s just another distraction. Oh, the ice cream van playing ‘Captain Pugwash’ just went past – does that count?

Longhand or computer?

D-er!

The best thing about being published is...
D-er!

And the worst thing…

D-er!

Win the Booker prize or land a Hollywood film deal?

Oh god, I should be so lucky!

A writer should never...

Slag off Agents on-line. Of this I’m sure. And they should write. Loads – apparently. At least that’s what they all say when they’re asked this question. The proper ones, I mean.

X Factor, Strictly CD or I’m a Celebrity?

Strictly, but only by a whisker and more because it’s on the Beeb and hasn’t got annoying adverts every seven minutes. I know, I get irritated very easily, don’t I?

My best ideas come…

When I’m in the shower. I don’t know what it is… think it’s the boredom and the half-asleep-having just woken up thing – I like to play dreams over too whilst I’m waking up under the blast (if I remember them) and I also do a whole lot of ‘I wonder if…’s and ‘what would happen if….’s. And strangely enough, it’s the only room I actually LOCK myself in. In. So maybe there’s the freedom of thought without distractions.

Independent bookshop or Amazon?

Love the indies and wish our Waterstone’s in town had a coffee/seating area. I went to a bookshop once that had both once and I felt like a child in a sweet shop. If I could have, I’d have moved in. Forever.
But I’m an Amazon-addict and spend all my pocket money there. After I’ve read extracts on the LoveReading.com site first, to make sure I’m going to like it.

You really must read...

‘Bet Me’ by Jenny Crusie. Not just because it starts with “Once upon a time” and ends with “happily ever after” but because the bit in between is just Ssssooo delicious!
And Lisa Jewell's 'Vince and Joy' which is just perfect too.

Left on a cliff-hanger or told all?

I get (yawn, yawn) irritated by cliff-hangers. I go a little bit Tony Hancock with his “missing last page” sketch (Lady Don’t Fall Backwards). Such a laugh – and so true. I’d end up wrapping myself up in knots and stalking the author to FORCE them to finish it properly!

My biggest Writing tip is…

Join a Group. I don’t mean AA or Girls Aloud. A writing group. Where you can talk words. People you work with will listen and nod, but they’ll never really ‘get’ it like another writer does.

Which fictional character would it be great to be?

Oh, definitely Minerva Dobbs in ‘Bet Me’. She’s so sassy, wickedly funny, loves her food and gets her man.

My journey to publication was...

“Is….” Ongoing. I hope.

Favourite book from childhood…

‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton. I had a bit of a crush on Moonface, I have to admit.

Oh! Is that IT? And I was having such fun...