In a nutshell: I’m a YA novelist and picture book writer with a profound inability to wear appropriate shoes.

. . . my parents used to call me Kojak (=70s television show about a big bald man who sucked lollypops and solved crime). I have more hair now and prefer stinky veiny cheese to lollypops. The only crimes I solve are figuring out which one of my children smeared peanut butter on the sofa.

. . . I used to write a fictional magazine column. It was nearly as much fun as writing novels because I could pretend to be someone else, which is one of the things I love about writing. And that’s definitely not because I don’t like being myself…I do, just not all the time.

. . . I nearly trod dog poo into a very famous person’s house. My saviour came in the form of some dried leaves, plus an entire bottle of Chanel No.19 (what a waste!). I don’t wear Chanel No.19 any more. This is probably my most overused anecdote. I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.

. . . I have experienced stage fright similar to what my character, Kass Kennedy, goes through in Girl, Aloud. Only I didn’t pee myself. Honest, Guv.

. . . I am scared of chickens and pigeons and geese and magpies and – okay, I am scared of all birds. But I am not scared of spiders.

. . . I’ve been living in Melbourne for nearly two years, but I’m still a Londoner at heart.