1. Which five adjectives would you use to describe yourself?
Gorgeous, intelligent, young, rich and over-imaginative.

2. Which book would you most like to have written?
Of recent ones, Holes by Louis Sachar.  Such clever plotting.

3. Which book would you consign to Book Hell?
The one that always finishes ahead of Kiss of Death in literary awards.

4. What books are currently on your bedside table?
There's just a notebook for jotting down ideas that occur to me at night.  If I don’t write them down at once, they will have vanished by morning.  Ideas are like vampires: obvious and plentiful at night but can't be found in daylight.

5. Tell us more about the way you work.  When does the day start?  Where do you write?  Can you be disturbed?
I start writing early, fuelled by coffee and music, straight onto computer.  I have a neat study with all the reference books and information sources that I need.  I'm interrupted by phone calls, the mail and the need to change music CDs but I seem to be able to settle back into a novel afterwards.  If I get a lot of phone calls, though, I'm perfectly capable of cursing and getting exceptionally grumpy.  I like the process of creating a story so I often work late as well – up to and after midnight when the story gets really exciting.

6. What would be your ideal way to spend a day off from your writing?
Walking in the Peak District.  But it's not really a day off because I might think of new ideas while I'm away.  Then, I’ll be 'writing' in my head and making notes on a pad.  In a way, I never have a day off – even when I'm on holiday – because I can't stop my brain working.

7. If you weren't a writer, what would you be doing instead?
I'd almost certainly return to my first career of being a scientist, but I wish I was good enough to be a musician.

8. What's on your iPod? (or gramophone!)
Lots.  I need a constant stream of music to create atmosphere while I'm writing.  Most favourites tend to be long and instrumental by Mogwai, The Workhouse, Jakob, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, and This Will Destroy You.  For a celebration of life and nature, Charlie and El Fusilado by Chumbawamba are short and perfect.  I play everything by my much missed all-time favourite group, Kitchens of Distinction.  And I like Editors (but a writer would say that).  There's so much good stuff out there these days.  I can't list it all!

9. Which person – living or dead – would you most like to have a chat over a cup of tea?
The scientist in me would invite Charles Darwin.  The money-maker in me would persuade Steven Spielberg over a cup of tea to turn my books into films.  The campaigner in me would love to speak to Martin Luther King.  But I'll settle for Chris Coleman (manager of Coventry City FC).

10. Tell us a secret about yourself (and make it a good one!)
I keep cacti and collect stamps that feature fish.

Back to Booked Up 2008.

These icons are links to social bookmarking websites where you can bookmark your favourite webpages and share them with other people. First, you need to register with one of the bookmarking sites. They’ll all free, but they work in slightly different ways, so click on the icons to see which one you prefer. Once you have registered, just click on the icon at the bottom of an Usborne webpage to add it to your social bookmarks.