I love all kinds of different books and I hold fond memories of books from my childhood, including the likes of Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton - both of whom influenced my own work. I still enjoy to read as many children's books as possible, to my boys, which really helps in my own writing.
As an adult reader, I adore classic books such as Dracula, The Old Man And The Sea, anything by Charles Dickens. I recently discovered One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest which is an amazing book. My favourite contemporary author is Stephen King. I really can get lost in his books. The horror ones are great, but I love the Dark Tower series and classics such as Green Mile and Under The Dome.
My favourite book is A Christmas Carol. Perfect storytelling.

For the longest time, I avoided e-readers - I was all for paperbacks. Then I bought an iPad and haven't looked back. I like the bookshelf layout of iBooks and the fact I can carry that many books in my hand!
My device at the moment is the Kindle Fire however. Mainly due to the price difference between the Amazon and the Apple devices.

I have been writing as long as I can remember. I must have been around eight years old, I would guess.
The earliest story I can remember was one I wrote when I was ten. I ended the story with 'and it was all a dream' - I can remember to this day my teacher absolutely slating me for it, in front of the entire class! But she told me that I could be published and I promised to dedicate my first book to her. Which I did.

My latest book, 'Fluffy Hugs' is based on a painting of the same name, featuring a very cute baby penguin by a very good friend. I have known Christopher Norman since 1997 and he is like a brother to me. His painting is very popular and I knew it would make an unbelievable book cover. So I created the story of a magic penguin who hugs people to fix their problems.

Publishing is such a hard business to get into it. I only ever sent off one manuscript and got some pleasant rejections, but rejections nevertheless. So, on discovering the possibility of self-publishing with no upfront costs, I jumped at the chance.

Sharing my ideas with strangers. Documenting what I believe to be a great story and releasing it into the world.

I am working on turning more of Christopher Norman's paintings of animals into children's books. Also, Fluffy part two will come in the autumn and I am working on a couple of adult books too.

Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton

My children. They are my alarm clock!
Also, my head will be swimming with ideas in the morning, so a pen and paper is vital first thing!

I tend to dive in head first with an idea, my planning is haphazard at best!
But when I do plan, I change it constantly and this is what helps a story to develop and really take on a life of its own. Some authors say that they are just the messenger - passing the story on. And I definitely relate to that.