I enjoyed writing as a child, but as I started working full time, when I was 18, I no longer had time for it. I quit a stressful career in August 2013 and started writing my first book New Leaves, No Strings then. I published it on 29th January 2014, and haven't looked back since.

Getting lost in another world, making it everything life sometimes is for realism, as well as what it sometimes isn't for escapism. Then it's hearing from fans of my work to say that it resonated with them and they want more.

God everything! Just having one person say they like my creation gives me such a massive boost and makes all those lonely hours sat in front of my laptop so worthwhile. Reviews and personal messages mean the world to me and are especially important for us new authors, who are still lacking in confidence, while our work starts getting out there against more established writers in our genre.

I approached a few publishers and was rejected, which is really demoralising when you have spent so long on your writing baby. I felt like my story and characters were good and that it would have an audience and just wanted to get it out there so others could hopefully enjoy it, so I decided to try self publishing and have not regretted it at all.

Very organised, I am slightly OCD about having everything in its place to the point my books, movies and music collections are alphabetised, but I tend to write sitting on my recliner with my laptop on my knees.

So many, my tastes are eclectic. I love Shakespeare, JK Rowling, Eoin Colfer, Agatha Christie, Sylvia Day and EL James - Classics, children's books and romance / erotica are my main fodder of choice.

Caffeine closely followed by writing!

At the moment it's all about the writing, I get kind of fixated on things I enjoy doing. When I do take a short break from writing, I love listening to music, watching Movies and TV and most of all socialising with friends and family with good food and wine.

I look at the genre I like on various websites and sort by average customer review. Covers help catch my eye, but I tend to read a lot of the reviews first before making up my mind. I will follow this process if books are recommended to me, or I see high scores on Goodreads too.

I'm lucky that I'm a touch typist, so I start with an idea and my fingers just follow the thoughts in my brain. On a good week I can type out 60,000 words, so in two good weeks I have written a whole novel. I just let myself go with the flow until I have finished my manuscript and then the hard part of my process begins. I go back and read it, make notes on what I felt worked or didn't work and then keep redrafting until I am happy, which usually takes longer than writing the initial draft.

My very first stories were about my travels as a child. I have a French mother and relatives that live in France and the USA so I was lucky to travel abroad frequently as a child and I loved creating scrapbooks and journals detailing all my trips.

The first book I remember really loving was Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I loved the creativity of it, getting lost in this world and feeling for the characters so much I cried. It started a reading obsession in my younger years and I read the entire school library and they had to bring in a mobile library especially for me - I read as quickly as I type. I got an A for attainment in reading at age 7 and a D for effort made - Probably my proudest academic achievement to date!

I started with a kindle, but now flit between reading on my laptop in my lounge, or on my iPhone in bed.