I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I was writing stories and poems from the time I could first hold a pencil and I wrote my first novel when I was only seven.
I think it’s because I have always loved books so much. It doesn’t matter what is happening to you in your own life – whether you are sick or sad or lonely – books are a magical gateway to other worlds and other times. For a while you walk around in someone else’s shoes, and you travel their journey of discovery with them. When you come back to your own body, in your own place and time, you have changed. You have grown. So books are a true kind of magic. When I first began dreaming of being a writer, I imagined myself writing the sort of books I so loved to read. Books that were filled with wonder and adventure, mystery and magic. As a child, I always thought I would write for other children. As I grew into an adult, I wanted to write for who I became. So it seems very natural to me to write for all age groups. Of the 40 books I’ve written, roughly half are for children and half for adults.
I feel incredibly lucky that I can spend my days doing what I love most – daydreaming, making up stories, writing them down, reading whatever I like, whenever I like, and travelling the world telling stories and talking about my writing. I’m one of those lucky people whose dreams really have come true.
