Frequently Asked Questions…
When did you start writing?
I started to write and draw books and comics when I was ten years old. I would staple the pages together and design a cover, then share the finished book with my family. This is a great way to start.
Cogheart was my first professional book. It was published when I was forty.
I like to say: ‘I have always been a writer and now I’m an author too’.
What are the Cogheart Adventures about?
Set in Victorian times, in a steampunk world where people travel by airships and have clockwork mechanical servants, the books follow the adventures of Lily, the fiery and quick-witted daughter of two world famous inventors, Robert, a talented and thoughtful clockmaker’s apprentice, and Malkin, an over-opinionated, mechanical fox. The three friends must use their courage and cunning to solve a series of life-threatening mysteries!
What inspired the Cogheart Adventures?
I was reading about clockwork robots from history. They were called automatons and were incredible pieces of engineering built to do simple tasks; like write their name or a few lines of poetry, play a musical instrument, or do a card trick. Some were part of complex clocks and their movements told the time. I thought, what if these clockwork robots were actually alive, and as good as the best robots you could possibly imagine?
What advice would you give new writers?
It takes a lot of work and determination to write a book, and a big part of it is being brave enough to begin, so if you’ve done that already you’re off to a good start.
Read lots of different things, and write as much and you can. The writing is for practise. The reading so you can learn about story and technique. If you do both, stick to them, and finish the stories you start, then you’ll be on your way to becoming a writer.
When you finish your story, and you’re happy with it, show it to people whose advice you trust. Ask them to read the story and write positive and constructive feedback on how to make it better. Then go back and edit your text with their comments in mind.
Remember, have fun, be creative, write about the things that bring you joy.
There are many places online where you can find free writing advice. But I believe you should only take advice that helps you, because no two people have the same way of writing.
One last tip:
Keep a scrapbook or notebook full of things that interest you, and you will never be short of story ideas.
Interesting facts about me:
I love reading books almost as much as I love writing them.
I was born and grew up in London.
I loved comics like the Beano and the Dandy, and Carl Barks Donald Duck Comics, and I made my own comic books as a kid.
Before I was an author, I used to be an animator.
My favourite authors include: Roald Dahl, Philip Pullman, Joan Aiken, Terry Pratchett, Eva Ibbotson, Ursula K Le Guin, Diana Wynne Jones, J. R. R. Tolkien, Douglas Adams, Enid Blyton, C. S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll and Mervyn Peake.
Some of my favourite films are: Star Wars: A New Hope, The Wizard of Oz, Watership Down, Disney animated movies, and Studio Ghilbli animated movies like: Kiki’s Delivery Service and Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
Cogheart was Waterstones Children’s book of the month August 2016. It won the Awesome Book Award, The Dudley Teen Book Award and Sefton Super Reads. It for was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Book Prize and the Branford Boase.
My animation work on The Secret Show (BBC) and Yoko Jakamoko Toto (ITV) for Collingwood Animation contributed to 4 BAFTAs. My short animation film Mind Games was a finalist for Virgin Media Shorts Award (2008) and screened in 200 UK cinemas