To be honest, I don't have a physical desk. I don't want to sound all emo about it and say I have a metaphysical desk because that just makes me sound like a wanker. My desk is a mixture of my lap, coffee table, dining room table or kitchen worktop. Now and again, I might stretch a cable into the yard and sit at the table out there. I used to scribe while sat on the Paddington to Reading train (if I managed to get a seat). I've text plot lines to myself from bed and scribbled on hotel headed paper while on business trips. It's about being comfortable but, more importantly, inspired. It's not about order with me. I can sit and write a chapter on an email draft at work if I'm inspired. Print it off and add it to a stash of note books. I begin to piece bits together like jigsaw without the picture on the lid acting as guide. I have no idea where stories are going until I hit the word count!

I absolutely love reading. It is the perfect escape. Now and again I can get so lost in a book, the line between the fiction and my reality blur. I have always been interested in fiction. I am naturally a story teller and like to entertain. And I love to be entertained by the spoken/written word. A story can be crippled by poor execution and I think my real inspiration to pick up a pen was feeling let down by stories. I wanted to love characters and feel moved but was constantly being left disappointed. I wanted people to embellish in part and hold back in others. I read or listened to the winners of competitions and thought 'why is that a winning entry?' And that is why I began to write. I wanted to fill the gap. I fully appreciate everybody has a very different take and taste and I can satisfy mine with an eclectic mixture of authors. But when a story isn't written or doesn't come close to what I want it to say/do, I write it. And amazingly, people want to read what I write.
Being an indie author takes away the 'no, we've already got a book on that' attitude and allows me to connect with readers directly without being edited/spoon fed. It's like taking something back to it's routes. Like an unplugged version of your favourite song and hearing the lyrics how they were meant to be heard for the very first time.

I have to be honest with you. I get a bit clingy to the authors I like. I tend to follow them (social media style rather than full-on stalking) and download their latest works pretty much as soon as they come out. I have a passion for classics too but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that sometimes it's the cover artwork that attracts me. I see the attractive jpeg and then read the review. If it's sloppy then I move on but if it's reviewed in a positive and articulate way, I'm sold.

I also belong to a book group. It's not as geeky as it sounds. We party hard too but once a month we meet and discuss a book that we've pre selected. This allows me the opportunity to read a number of books that I would never have known existed. Some I love and some I loath but all become a talking point. There is so much to be learnt from other people's perspective on fiction. What I read as one thing, somebody else might interpret in a completely different way and I honesty think that's what brings stories to life. If I re-read a book now it's because I can do so with a different view point and the whole story seems so different. It's like reading it for the very first time...

I have a Kindle Paperwhite. It's just for reading. I didn't trust myself not to download games and stuff on the other e-readers!

I love so many books. Today I was reflecting on a story I read a few years ago. It was a Christopher Ransom horror that I suggested for the book group I belong to and although there was a subtle smattering of distaste for the story itself, the debate that it evokes as amazing. That is the sign of a good book.
The five books that have left an impression on me are...
(1) The Book Thief.
(2) To Kill A Mocking Bird.
(3) The Time Traveller's Wife (but not the film)
(4) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
(5) The Wasp Factory.