I don't remember the first story I actually wrote but I do remember making up bedtime stories to tell to my younger brothers. They were about a child with a magic bag that had things in that could solve any problem or overcome any obstacle that was being faced. I was about 8 I think so I'm not sure what the quality of the stories were but my brothers enjoyed them. At least they always fell asleep!

My writing is non-fiction so it's a tortuous process of gathering information and concepts and sculpting them into a flowing narrative. I really dislike academic texts that are not accessible to readers.

I used to love James Herriot's books - the Yorkshire vet tales of life set in the 60s or 70s I think.
I desperately wanted to be a vet!

Anything! Working in psychological trauma, sometimes I like a real escape or something easy like chick-lit.
Anything with a good story will do although I used to persist with a not-so-good one right to the end as I was brought up to respect books and authors. The equivalent of "clear your plate" even though you're not hungry or don't like it! I'm doing this much less now.

I go with the philosophy of tidy desk - tidy mind. I can't work with clutter. I like a view of the garden where I can watch the birds and see the sky. When I'm stuck, I can spend a few minutes looking out of the window, and getting out of my head, and this seems to help.
My dog is usually flat out asleep nearby and it's all reasonably peaceful. I'm very lucky.

We moved around a lot and changed primary schools several times. I think I used story telling to create my own little world where I had some control. It also meant we met lots of different people from different backgrounds and this helps me step inside different shoes and lives more easily.

Having control over my writing. My first book was published by a New York publisher which sounds great but everything gets signed over to them and there's no real control over where it goes. It was a massive opportunity and I am very proud of my connections with them but I do like to be independent in life!

Creating something out of nothing. It's like sculpting, even the non-fiction books. You start with a vague idea then a lump of words and concepts and have to refine and mould them into something to be proud of. There's usually a moment when it feels like the finished piece is starting to emerge from the mess and I love that moment of clarity.

I like to find solutions to problems and think about how we can do things differently. I've been developing new solutions to managing trauma and emotional crisis as I don't feel we, as mental health professionals, are reaching enough people with support that meets their needs. Many people cannot or will not go for talking therapies and there have to be alternative options for them. I'm big on empowerment and independence and, along with my co-author Cath Kerr, we've developed some of these options. My time now is spent getting them out in the world ... and walking my dog on the hills.