Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in rural Yorkshire in the UK. It was a quiet and contented childhood, with intimations of the greater world always just over the horizon. I liked being a child. There were interesting people around me who, even if they teased, never let me down. I wasn't particularly interested in dolls but I cannot remember a time when I did not read.
Who are your favorite authors?
My favorite authors must be Charles Dickens, for his characters and storylines; Isaac Asimov, the master sci-fi writer for his robot conceptions and hard science backgrounds, Holbrook Jackson, a relatively obscure essayist, for his thinking, Terry Pratchett for his incredible imaginative flair, Alexander McCall Smith, the author of the "44 Scotland Street" series, particularly for the awful Bruce and poor Bertie, the child prodigy; Kerry Greenwood for the stylish Phryne Fisher and Kenneth Grahame for "The Wind in the Willows." I mustn't forget all the good sci-fi/fantasy and crime writers of the world.
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