I I have lots of interests and use some of them in my writing. I love going to the cinema and the theatre. I like comedies and dramas on the telly – dramas seem to be getting much more scarce. So-called reality shows don’t do much for me. BRING BACK DRAMAS!!! (And preferably something else besides medical or detective dramas)

I love, love, love music. I'm predominantly a jazz-funk/soul head but I like anything that doesn't give me a headache!! At the moment, I'm into Joe (what a voice!), Outcast (whose songs are constantly different and fantastic), Kanye West (genius), Lupe Fiasco (his song with Jill Scott is wonderful), Rob Thomas (not a single duff song on his Something To Be CD!), Maxwell (seriously soulful) and Nickelback (their 'Saving Me' video is amazing and 'How You Remind Me' is one of my favourite songs). Great stuff!! If I could have one selfish wish in this world, I'd wish I could sing.

I’m currently learning to play the piano and I used to play the saxophone. My number one favourite activity however is reading – natch! To be honest, I read more children’s books than adult books, because I love stories with a strong, imaginative plot and interesting characters.

Some of the books I've read recently that I loved are Holes by Louis Sacher, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In the Night time by Mark Haddon and The Tinder Box by Minette Walters. I'll read anything by Alan Gibbons, Catherine R. Johnson, Minette Walters, Benjamin Zephaniah and James Berry to name but a very few, as they're such fantastic writers.