Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in a small village in West Sussex, England. My mother didn't drive then, and my father worked six days a week and as many of my friends lived quite a distance from me, I spent quite a lot of time making my own entertainment.
I was also lucky enough to have riding lessons once a week from about five years old, and longed to have a pony of my own. The rest of my free time was either spent playing outside or reading books. I loved to climb a big holly tree which grew in our garden, taking a book up with me to read sometimes. Reading allowed me to be anyone, travel anywhere and live a totally different life. Books are still like a time travelling porthole to me!
I believe it was having the space and the time to invent my own games and to amuse myself, which has developed my imagination, alongside my love of books, which has lead me to where I am today. Now I get the chance to write my own adventures and it's just as thrilling for me writing them as it is to read them!
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Writing takes me right out of my day-to-day world. I love to create new worlds and characters, which I actually feel a responsibility for! Time just whizzes by and I'm always super-keen to return to it.
Writing, for me, is like painting - creating images which can provoke memories of smells, tastes and emotions, which are all invisible, hidden inside the cover, until you cast your eyes over the written words, then they spring up into life! Equal to this, is seeing Sophie and Felicity's faces light up as I read my stories to them - priceless moments!
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