How often do you have time to read for pleasure and which book are you in the middle of right now?
I go up and down with reading, I’ve pretty much had to force myself to get back into it as of late. Right now I am re-reading The Lord of the Rings as I haven’t read it for years and it is fantastic!
Doom Rider is our favourite book of yours. How and where did the character of Seth come to you?
Where did Seth come to me? I don’t really know exactly – I guess he’s probably partly based on how I would like to have been myself at 13. That would have been very rebellious, all of the imagery – I’m from a church background so I drew from all of that Revelation stuff, the Four Riders, which I just loved, being a teenager. I thought it was great because you know, you become a teenager and everything kind of gets mixed up and you have to work out what to do with your life. I love the idea of giving a kid a destiny where he has to destroy the world and to put him in a kind of will he/won’t he awkward situation to see what he will do.
Is there a book you have read which you wish you had written?
Yes! One of my favourite horror books is Let the Right One In. It’s a stunning vampire story and I absolutely loved it. Everyone I knew told me it was twisted and wrong and horrible but I thought it was flawless and beautiful – I loved that book, fantastic! I also love There’s Wocket in my Pocket by Dr Seuss. I love Dr Seuss – you are never too old to read his books!
What is your favourite word in the English Language?
I do love the word fabulous, and also wondrous. I love the word Womble and pudding. Fetid and unctuous and onomatopoeia – I could be here for some time!
What has been the very best part of your experience so far of being a patron of reading?
Well I am a patron of reading in a school down south and it’s great to go into a school and encourage reading. It’s what I kind of do across the country anyway, so like today it’s fabulous, because I get the chance to hang out with people like yourselves who are all so awesome. As I say every day, I feel honoured and privileged to spend my time with children and teenagers as wonderful as they are here today. You guys are all amazing and I feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend my days like this – it’s a joy!
Is there a subject matter or genre of book which you would absolutely not consider writing about?
I just can’t see myself writing a romance novel – it just isn’t going to happen!
Which books do you love reading with your children?
Any book pretty much! I’ve read some of mine, lots of Dr Seuss and I’ve read Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black with my eldest. I just love reading with my boys. I try and read every night with them. Reading is a big part of who I am anyway so I always read with them and I encourage them to read on their own too. I always make sure that there are books around the house so they see them all of the time.
What are your thoughts briefly on reading for pleasure in young people? What level of importance do you think this should hold?
I think there is one thing that you should leave school with above all and that is the love of reading. Because if you love reading then anything from that point on is open to you. If you don’t love reading then the world kind of closes up to you. When you read for pleasure you can explore new worlds, understand things, read newspapers, understand instructions and learn new stuff. If you don’t love it then all of that is closed off and I think it is the biggest thing any school can give a child. It is absolutely key for primary schools above all else. Giving a child encouragement to love reading is the most important thing. I will stand on a clifftop with a big sword and shout it to anyone who disagrees with me! I will summon demons and dragons to prove my point. It makes me very cross that anyone should disagree with that!
The library is the heartbeat of any school. It is the very heart and soul. If a school hasn’t got a library then it may as well close down. Every school needs a library and it goes to show that places like this (Highfield Primary book bus) don’t necessarily have to be inside a building. This is the very best thing I have ever seen in any school ever. Ever!!! It is phenomenal and I think it should be promoted nationally, I am just so blown away by it.
What kind of atmosphere do you need to be surrounded by when writing your horror novels and have you ever had a thought which has really scared you and was way too dark to put in one of your YA novels?
Atmosphere-wise I listen to quite creepy music, without vocals or lyrics but it is often creepy, strange, weird stuff. I listen to a radio station called Doomed FM. It is a digital radio station which is very, very creepy. I like the atmosphere of it and I often write late at night. I’ve written on trains during commutes when I worked at Ofsted going back and forth to work. Scariest thing I’ve written? In the film which I am currently writing, I’ve done something I never thought I’d do which is I have just killed off two children! I wasn’t even expecting to do it because it is something I don’t like to see on a film as it always freaks me out and scares me. But when writing the script it really needed to be done and it was at that point when I wrote it I had to phone the director straight away and tell him what I had done. I said “I’m really sorry but I have just killed off two children” and he thought it was awesome, exactly what horror is about. I probably wouldn’t have included it in a YA novel in the same way. I literally had to stop writing at that and close my computer because I thought that is really too dark!
