1. What inspired you to write your first book?
A dream first and foremost. An idea lingered in my mind for years until I finally had time to put pen to paper during a long period of maternity leave. I suppose a childhood love of literature became a lifelong obsession! I cannot imagine ever stopping writing now.
[divider type=””]
2. Writing can be a difficult job, what inspires you to keep going?
Mostly, readers. When I get an amazing reaction from one of my readers, I know something is working. Writing a book can sometimes feel lonely, desolate and doubtful. It is the possibility of the finished outcome and seeing that achievement come to fruition that spurs me on too.
[divider type=””]
3. What are you working on now? What’s next?
At the moment I am writing/re-editing a series of science-fiction novels set in a futuristic world. The planet is struggling to cope in the wake of viral attack and love is the key to breaking a stranglehold of fear that looms over everyone.
[divider type=””]
4. What’s your writing process, schedule, or routine?
Most writers write in the wee hours, when the world is quiet and we feel quiet in our own minds too. I am no exception. Sometimes if I am close to a major breakthrough in a plot, I lock myself away for a day or two and my husband brings me cups of tea and toast intermittently, but otherwise I just write when the world lets me, or when I get an idea. Sometimes even on my Windows Phone if I am on the bus or train!
[divider type=””]
5. Who is your favorite book character of all time? Why?
That is a hard question, it really is *looks at bookshelf in a bid to seek help*. There are so many good, strong characters from books I love. There are also some baddies you have got to love too. I am trying to avoid picking one from the classics but it is inevitable… Celie from The Color Purple. It is a beautiful book I could read again and again. Her voice is so authentic and simple, yet so spiritual.
[divider type=””]
6. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Keep writing. Honestly. You just never know when something might click.
[divider type=””]
7. What’s your favorite quote?
How can you do this to me? Ha-ha! I will go with this one… it says it all, for me… “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
[divider type=””]
8. Who would you most like to have a cup of coffee with? (Dead or alive) Explain…
I would like to sit down with Tom Cruise and ask him why he didn’t just bloody marry me. No… actually, I would like to sit with Shakespeare and interrogate him on his work schedule, whether he really knew he would be eternally famous and how the hell did he write Romeo and Juliet without convulsing in agony like the 14-year-old version of me did? LOL. I just think it would be fascinating to see into the mind of someone like him and get a real picture of the man. He saw the spectrum of humanity and for some reason, we are still reinterpreting him all the time.
[divider type=””]
9. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Smoking. Can’t stand it. Doesn’t mean a character can’t smoke though! As long as they don’t leave their tab ends around me…
[divider type=””]
10. Tell us something quirky about you.
At school I was so much better at Math than English. In fact I don’t think that has changed.
[divider type=””]
11. Favorite comfort food?
Burger and fries (or chips as us Brits call them J).
[divider type=””]
12. Star Wars or Star Trek? 
Star Wars!
[divider type=””]
13. Sunrises or Sunsets?
Sunsets.
[divider type=””]
