Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in Chelmsford, Essex, on a fifties council estate. My best friend lived just across the road. We played together from the age of two. We went to different schools but other than that we were inseparable. The years went by and we became mods together. Our lives formed the basis of the stories in A Sense of Occasion.
When did you first start writing?
I have written since I was quite young, 8 or 9. My best friend Christine and I used to write a newspaper for the people in our street, we handwrote six or seven copies and sewed the pages together. Once we ran a story about a burning house near our estate and gave away a free piece of ash with each copy. I also used to write plays which we performed to people in the street - although the only people who came were my sister and her friend. There always had to be a character called Sally in the play, for Christine's sister.
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