What Inspired you to write the Territory series? I wanted to write about two issues that I’m really interested in: the environment and education. Turning to the environment first – it’s going to sound corny, but I have two young girls and I’m really worried about the sort of world we’re leaving behind for them. […]

Tell me what inspired you to write fish boy? Ooh I would say – a love of mysteriousness, the sea and David Attenborough! What can you tell us about your second book? It’s an adventurous road trip of you tube, self discovery and death avoidance with an awe inspiring scandinavian backdrop and fun bunch of […]

Tell me what inspired you to write your children’s series and are you limiting yourself to a certain number of books in this series? I write the books that I wish I’d had as a child. I was obsessed with murder mysteries (I discovered Agatha Christie aged 12) but could never find stories that starred […]

Tell me what inspired you to write your The Fandom? The inspiration behind The Fandom was from an original idea by Angela McCann, who was runner up in The Big Idea competition. She had the idea of transporting a group of teenagers into their favourite story. Then I was inspired by my love of all […]

Tell me what inspired you to write your two books? I wrote Six Stories as an experiment more than anything. I had been listening to the Serial podcast at the height of its popularity and wondered if a book written in this format would work. I had no idea if it was any good and […]

Tell me what inspired you to write the Alfie bloom series? I have always adored castles and visit as many as I can. In 2006 some friends took me to Castle Coch in Wales. It looked like a fairytale castle and I wondered what it would be like to inherit a place like that. I […]

Tell me what inspired you to write for children? I wasn’t really “inspired to write for children”. What happened was that I had an idea for a story (Time Travelling With A Hamster) that was suitable for children, and I wrote it thereby becoming a “children’s author”. How hard was it to get your first […]

Which came first, adult or children’s books for you as a writer? The first novel I ever finished was a story for younger readers. It was terrible, and I shoved it in a bottom drawer hoping it would mature, but I take it out from time to time, and it’s still terrible. Writing takes a […]