All posters are printed to order, so please allow at least 3 weeks for delivery.
Half the proceeds from the print go to the illustrator – the other half go back into the pot for the next issue of Parabola.
Prints on High Quality print on 315gsm Natural Smooth Cotton Fine Art Paper.

All posters are printed to order, so please allow at least 3 weeks for delivery.
Half the proceeds from the print go to the illustrator – the other half go back into the pot for the next issue of Parabola.
Prints on High Quality print on 315gsm Natural Smooth Cotton Fine Art Paper.

All posters are printed to order, so please allow at least 3 weeks for delivery.
Half the proceeds from the print go to the illustrator – the other half go back into the pot for the next issue of Parabola.
Prints on High Quality print on 315gsm Natural Smooth Cotton Fine Art Paper.

All posters are printed to order, so please allow at least 3 weeks for delivery.
Half the proceeds from the print go to the illustrator – the other half go back into the pot for the next issue of Parabola.
Prints on High Quality print on 315gsm Natural Smooth Cotton Fine Art Paper.

Joanna is a freelance illustrator who recently graduated from University College Falmouth. She enjoys experimenting with different characters using a variety of media including ink, paint, collage and print.
joannaboyle.co.uk

Laura Callaghan

Laura is an illustrator living and working in London. She graduated from Kingston University In 2010 with a first class honours MA in illustration. She likes drawing, eating, sleeping and playing tetris.
lauralaurapicturedrawer.blogspot.com

Nathan Fletcher

Nathan is a freelance illustrator and designer who lives and works in Cornwall. He has produced work for a wide range of clients, from the Guardian to Virgin, from the Independent to Waitrose.
mybrokenshoe.com

Stephanie Ginger

A recent Falmouth Illustration graduate, Stephanie creates original patterns and illustrations.

Jes Hunt

Jes Hunt can almost always be found hunched over her desk, furiously scribbling away on reams of paper amidst a sea of sketchbooks. she has produced work for Stranger, Adrenalin, Amelia’s Magazine, FormFiftyFive, New Empress Magazine and more. jeshunt.co.uk

Mark Leary

Eleven years of photographing plug-sockets, dangly wires and nothing much. Now photographing everything.
mark-leary.com

Millie Marotta

A seaside dwelling Illustrator, slightly obsessed with all things flora and fauna and with a keen eye for pattern and detail.
milliemarotta.co.uk

Rebecca Nash

In 2011 Rebecca graduated from University College Falmouth with an MA in Photography. Rebecca’s emotive and experimental approach to photographic imagemaking incorporates moving and still image, projection and sound.
rebecca-nash.co.uk

Em Prové

Self taught Illustrator and Fashion Print designer Em Prové holds eight years industry experience and brings a strong, distinct hand-rendered style to all commissions and collections. She has produced work for both luxury and directional brands including Jimmy Choo, Barbour, Escada and Burberry.
em.prove@yahoo.co.uk

Nick Radford

Music loving throw back chump, Nick Radford (Frootful) is influenced by the minimal palettes of traditional screenprinting techniques, jazz and soul album covers, plus other vintage things besides.
frootful.co.uk

Gavin Rutherford

a freelance illustrator based in Fife, Scotland, Gavin Rutherford’s work incorporates decorative line drawings, patterns and intricate penmanship.
www.gavinrutherford.com

Diggy Smerdon

Artist and illustrator Diggy Smerdon brings to life themed characters, weird and wonderful creatures, and creations of dream and sub-conscious.
diggysmerdon.com

Mark Squire

A mixture of drawing, printing and twiddling on the computer, Mark Squire relishes the chance to try new styles and media.
marksquire.co.uk

Edward Tuckwell

Ed’s work stems from a fascination in cinema / printmaking / modern & retro design – and draws on visual techniques employed in cinematography and the graphic novel genre.
edwardtuckwell.com

It’s getting dark, I shout from the kitchen. You’d best come in.

It doesn’t get dark for hours but Sam doesn’t know that. Mum bought extra-thick blinds for his bedroom windows.

Put him in early so it’s quiet for your Dad, Mum used to say to me then we’d make pancakes, listening out for Dad’s car. She’d run to freshen her lipstick then kiss it onto him when he walked in the door.

I hear the toilet flush then Mum’s feet padding back upstairs. Sam bolts through the kitchen wanting to get to her but I block his way like he’s one of the cats trying to jump onto the work surface. He whimpers and sticks his shiny lips out but I stay put.

I mash cheese into his potato the way he likes and cover it with beans while he sits at the table tapping his spoon quietly against the soft flesh of his cheek, happy-groaning. I put his food down and he does his wide-mouthed grin at me, part-smile part-gawp. A sliver of drool lands on his plate.

When he’s eating I slip out with Mum’s food. There’s spinach and avocado next to the cheese and beans and potato. Three squares of dark chocolate and a cherry yoghurt.

I scratch my knuckles on the door to let her know I’m coming.

She’s sitting up in bed, long ponytail falling over her shoulder like rope from where she twists it all day. Her lunch is untouched on the bedside table again. I carry it out and take a deep breath before going back in.

Superfoods like Dr. Cruz said look Mum: avocado, spinach, chocolate…

My voice turns thin and wet; it sinks into the wallpaper, trickles out the crack in the window.

Sam wants to come up and say hello…

Hello? She scoffs and I shut my mouth, surprised to hear her voice.

Standing still my heart pounds as I look at her, hoping this silence is just a pause, a thinking gap before the words she’s going to say next. Sam starts shouting and banging downstairs, noticing I’ve gone, but I stay where I am, prepared to wait for hours for these next sentences, for what I’ve been owed since Dad left and she came up here. There’s the sound of a plate smashing and Sam starts to cry. The kitchen door swings open and his flat feet are on the stairs.

Stop him, she says, so quietly I almost miss it.

Eat then, I tell her like we’re making a deal, but I run down the stairs to stop him all the same.

The next day is as hot as it’s ever been and Sam wants to water fight again. I help him turn the washing-up bottle into a water gun and force a smile as he shoots it straight into my eyes.

No matter how much I chase him round to the other side of the house he always winds up underneath Mum’s window. She stares out over our heads, looking beyond the cornfields and the main road and the sprawl of the town.

Sam shrieks, glancing over his hunched shoulders to look up at her. I shriek with him. Mum ducks inside.

I pack Sam off to bed early so I can spend more time on Mum’s food. There are more superfoods than I know what to do with: broccoli, beetroot, carrot, peppers, alfalfa sprouts. I divide them into colours.

I knock on her door harder, brave after hearing her voice yesterday.

The room smells bad like off fruit and eggs and the windows are locked.

Where’s the key, Mum?

She doesn’t answer, moves her head to watch me as I put fresh food on her bed, wafting my hand like that could freshen the air.

Mum?

Yesterday’s cheese and beans have been picked at by the cats. There’s an orange paw print on the windowsill.

You need to eat something.

She turns her head away.

We need you downstairs.

The sun shines in the window, bright, and I think about Sam downstairs in his bedroom, tricked into going to sleep early like a budgie with a coat thrown over its cage. I look at Mum surrounded by dirty cups and cat fur, lounging around like Miss Havisham and I want to yank her out of bed.

We’re your fucking children.

I slam the door and run down the stairs.

Sam is standing in his bedroom doorway tongue pressed against the door frame, looking at me from the corner of his eye. I grab his hand and pull him outside. He blinks up at the sun standing in his faded striped pyjamas.

I scoop cold, creamy potato from its skin and lob it up at Mum’s window. Sam stares at the yellow-white splodge on the glass and squeals, jumping up and down, dribble trickling down his front. I squeal too but there’s no response so I stick my fingers into the other half and lob again.

We’re your fucking children! I bellow up at her, ecstatic to be making so much noise. We’re not going anywhere!

Sam stares at me, knees bent, happy-groaning.

I hand him an avocado quarter then throw one myself, grinning down at him. He copies me, throwing his arm up loosely and letting go so the avocado bounces off the side of the house, a few feet off target. I cheer like it’s spot on and Sam wobbles out a victory dance.

Watch this, I say, picking up the yoghurt pot and we both watch as it hurtles towards the window, smashes through the glass. Sam throws himself on the floor, shrieking, he rubs his cheeks on the grass and I lie down next to him, doing the same thing. We look up at her window and wait.

Aged ten to 11, writing stories at school.

What’s your writing ambition?

To develop an audience.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

Knut Hamsun. He writes with such humility, I would like to try and find how to achieve something similar.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

Live in a warmer climate.

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

Beginning to reach an audience.

What is it you love about writing?

Letting my imagination float.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

My novel, “The Studio Couch”.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

Working out the story (as opposed to the plot).

What is your favourite book title?

Hunger.

What writers do you most admire and why?

Knut Hamsun (see above). Thomas Hardy, because of his affection for his characters, Isabel Allende, because she keeps her characters in order.

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

End of the beginning. Story-telling began orally, the medium is just that.

Do you prefer to read or write?

Write, but it’s a close thing!

What are you most looking forward to?

Starting the next writing project.

Desert island books – which three would you take?

War and Peace. House of the Spirits. The Wanderer.

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

Walk on the coast path.

What’s the best part of a journey?

Halfway.

When I was about 8 years old and my teacher read out a story I’d written, instead of the usual book at story time.

What’s your writing ambition?

To see my books on the shelves in a bookshop. And also to become a famous enough to be asked to do Strictly Come Dancing, but that’s secondary to getting published!

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

It would be great to have a chinwag with Jane Austen over afternoon tea.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

I’d like to be making a comfortable living from writing books, talking about writing books and helping other people, especially children, to write stories.

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

A couple of years ago I realised what I should have been doing for the last ten years and started doing it.

What is it you love about writing?

The fact that something that starts as a tiny idea in my mind can grow to be something bigger or something else in the mind of whoever else reads it.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

My YA adventure novel is the thing I’ve written I’m most proud of.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

When you’re so far into writing that you completely believe in the story and the characters and everything’s flowing straight onto the page.

What is your favourite book title?

The Exploits of Moominpappa: Described by Himself

What writers do you most admire and why?

I love Margaret Atwood, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Philip Pullman, Philip Reeve, John Wyndham and Tove Jansson because they make their worlds so believable that you forget any other version exists.

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Just the end of the beginning. Books have been around for an awfully long time and I think they’ll stick around for a long time yet.

Do you prefer to read or write?

Reading makes me want to write and writing makes me want to read.

What are you most looking forward to?

Achieving what I think I can achieve.

Desert island books – which three would you take?

His Dark Materials (all in one volume!)

The Norton Anthology of English Literature

Mary Berry’s Ultimate Cake Book

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

There’s no such thing as writer’s block.

What’s the best part of a journey?

It depends where or who you’re leaving or going to.

I’ve always loved stories and imagining things so writing seemed a natural progression.

What’s your writing ambition?

I’d love to have a novel or short story collection published.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

I would love to talk to Jhumpa Lahiri about how she creates her short stories.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

I try to make the most of what I’ve got but more time is always useful.

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

Having my two children, Iris and Lauren.

What is it you love about writing?

The best writing has a quality of transcendence that frees you from time.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

My new novel, I hope.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

All of it; though repeated novel edits can get tedious.

What is your favourite book title?

We Are Now Beginning Our Descent.

What writers do you most admire and why?

Too many to name – a small selection are…David Constantine, Jhumpa Lahiri, Mavis Gallant, Petina Gappah, Hemingway, Katherine Mansfield and Patrick Holland for their short stories; Hilary Mantel for the extraordinary Wolf Hall; Vanessa Gebbie, for her stories and for writing the novel she wanted to write; Siri Hustvedt and Jane Gardam for their ability to writing both movingly and funnily, J.A. Baker for the luminous prose of The Peregrine.

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

The end of the beginning, I hope.

Do you prefer to read or write?

Write but reading comes a close second.

What are you most looking forward to?

The next reason to celebrate.

Desert island books – which three would you take?

Á la recherché du temps perdu, The Stories of Katherine Mansfield, The Bone People.

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

I walk the coast path.

What’s the best part of a journey?

Seeing ordinary things with fresh eyes.

When Miss Amihere wrote on my short story: ‘This is an excellent piece of writing. A*’. I was 15 with no idea what I’d do in life. One positive comment changed everything. From that day I wrote at home, kept a diary, scribbled all over books I shouldn’t have scribbled over, wrote stupidly long emails, tried to write a novel, dabbled in poetry. And lots more

What’s your writing ambition?

To enjoy and understand as many experiences as possible through writing.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

Bill Bryson. Because at 15, when Miss Amihere told me I’d written an excellent story, I picked up Notes From a Small Island and cried with laughter. And for the first time I loved writing and reading. Also, I stole my first voice from Bill Bryson. I’d like to tell him all this in person. And ask him about his travels.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

I’d like to have the experiences and knowledge I’ll have in ten years. But I can wait.

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

What an enormously big and hugely gigantic question. I spent a year walking around Britain by the light of the full moon. That changed me. You can read about it here: www.discoveringbritainbyfullmoon.blogspot.com

What is it you love about writing?

The creativity. As a boy I scribbled and jotted and painted and made and broke and redesigned. Writing lets me be that creative and enthusiastic – but now I can call myself a professional. Perfect.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

Maybe some of Moonwalking (the blog posts or sample chapters of the book). Maybe one of the few short stories I’ve written for friends. Not sure. I just hope I improve every time I write something new.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

Having the idea. The rest is hard work. Fun – but hard.

What is your favourite book title?

It’s a short story by Ernest Hemingway. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.

What writers do you most admire and why?

Bill Bryson for his observations and wit. Hemingway for his dialogue. Sir Walter Scott for his detail, plots, characters. And some friends who share their writing with me.

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Another opportunity for writers to be read. I think that’s a good thing.

Do you prefer to read or write?

Write. Definitely a writer. I like to read for inspiration and to learn craft, then write write write to practise, play and create new worlds.

What are you most looking forward to?

New experiences with new people when I next travel.

Desert island books – which three would you take?

Notes From a Small Island. The Bible (because I’ve never read it all). Parabola II – to see how other writers approached the brief.

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

Go for a walk and do something else creative – take photos or sketch. The block usually comes from a lack of inspiration. So I go looking for inspiration.

What’s the best part of a journey?

When the scary turns comfortable.

When I started reading

What’s your writing ambition?

To write what I want and make a living out of it

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

Roald Dahl – to find out if he was really as grumpy as he was said to have been. And why ‘Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator’?

In what way would you like your life to be different?

To have the capacity and courage to live life even more in the moment

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

It’s been a long slow build – learning how to write more effectively

What is it you love about writing?

It’s fulfilling in it’s own right – I have an autotelic personality

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

It is always the last thing I’ve written

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

The first draft – anything goes so it’s an indulgence

What is your favourite book title?

At the moment it’s ‘The Dark Unwinding’

What writers do you most admire and why?

Anyone who’s a storyteller, not just a writer

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

The beginning of the end for books in the traditional sense but the start of so much more.

Do you prefer to read or write?

I have to do both to get a balance

What are you most looking forward to?

Finishing the current draft of my next book

Desert island books – which three would you take?

The Bible, The Qur’an and The Bhagavad Gita

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

I don’t believe such a thing exists

What’s the best part of a journey?

The end. Because you can start another journey.

Can’t recall, just kind of slipped into it. Most of the time I wish I wasn’t; I hate being stuck indoors sat at a computer.

What’s your writing ambition?

To stop fannying around and finish the book I’m writing. And then maybe tackle the other two books I started, but abandoned. Dream job would be to be a travel writer, but that doesn’t sit well with single parenthood.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

Either Janet Frame, cos she was born in Dunedin (like my brother) grew up in Oamaru (like my mum) her dad worked on the railways there (like my granddad) and she was a little bit bonkers (like me) or Roald Dahl cos his stories and poetry are ace; Dirty Beasts rocks.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

Living 74 miles away from my partner sucks. I wish our circumstances were different, would save a lot of driving.

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

Meeting Jon and being handfasted (hippy married). Trekking to Everest and Machu Picchu, taking up surfing, playing Glastonbury Festival, getting a tattoo and becoming a grandma weren’t bad either. Oh, and having laser eye surgery. All of the above have been revelatory.

What is it you love about writing?

Actually it’s love/hate. I find it really frustrating but rewarding when it eventually clicks. Tinkering with sentences until they’re just right can be so satisfying, but staring at a blank page or screen is utterly soul destroying. Also, when someone asks you that ‘what do you do?’ dreaded question, you can say, ‘I’m a writer’ which sounds dead posh and clever.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

A complaint letter to Paignton Zoo. Took my kids there and it was rubbish. The letter led to a full refund.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

When you become immersed and lose all sense of time. Oh, and pressing ‘send’ when you email a finished piece off.

What is your favourite book title?

Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.

What writers do you most admire and why?

Writers who write in adversity, their courage is humbling. And writers who make me feel.

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Don’t ask me, I’m a Luddite.

Do you prefer to read or write?

I like reading but rarely do. No time. Ditto writing.

What are you most looking forward to?

My kids leaving home (two down, two to go) and relinquished of responsibility, finally being able to move in with my man, yay! Before I turn 50, the plan is to go to India, buy a couple of Enfields, and ride back overland together. If the motorbike thing proves too ambitious, we’ll cycle back instead. Retirement sounds great too. Think I’m one of those people who won’t really start writing seriously until work and all the other stuff is out the way.

Desert island books – which three would you take?

Haven’t got a clue, but they’d want to be loooong. A funny one, an epic one, and a dazzlingly uplifting one I think.

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

Most of the time I don’t, it overcomes me.

What’s the best part of a journey?

The unanticipated and unexpected adventures ahead. And the provisions – one cannot journey on an empty stomach.

I was forced to write my story a week after the media realised the film. My plan was to use the story as evidence for Court.

I wanted to prove what happened from my side of the story.

As soon as I started it became addictive. I haven’t written anything since Consequences of War.

What’s your writing ambition?

My Ambition is to write a positive self help book about getting over Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. From War to Peace 2012.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

I would like to meet Silver Birch a Native American. Wisdom comes from within.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

I am different because I have read only 3 books in my life. This makes my work unique and not influenced by rules and structure.

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

Getting caught with that video and exposed has changed my life for the better. I’ve lost my family & house went bankrupt in one year, it has been a real journey. I lost all the material things in life but found the real me.  I’m a very lucky person.

It’s great to be alive and writing about it.

What is it you love about writing?

Channeling your inner voice.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

I haven’t written it yet.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

The special time you get to do it.

What is your favourite book title?

Deepak Chopra Synchro Destiny

What writers do you most admire and why?

Wilfred Owen & Sassoon

Do you prefer to read or write?

Write

What are you most looking forward to?

Looking forward to going to LA California to work with US Veterans with PTSD in 2012.

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

Writers Block means you’re not meant to write – you can’t force creativity so deal with it. Don’t write force written conscious rubbish.

What’s the best part of a journey?

The best part of my journey so far is being blessed with my 2 little Boys they are my life and the reason for living.

Remember the truth always translates.

When I was about seven years old.  I was drawing and realised I could put across what I wanted in words better than in pictures.

What’s your writing ambition?

I want to be a writer for life.  I admire writers like Daphne du Maurier and Helen Dunmore who have written in a variety of genres: novels, short stories, poetry.  I would like to be that kind of writer as I believe it keeps you flexible and keeps your creativity alive.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

I’ve always been intensely curious about Shakespeare.  I’d be star-struck so he’d have to do all the talking.  If I was lucky I’d get to do some Renaissance dancing while I was there!

In what way would you like your life to be different?

I would like to have what they call ‘a private income’.

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

Moving to Cornwall.

What is it you love about writing?

When I am doing it I know what it means to be in my element.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

I wrote an essay about Emily Dickinson’s poetry when I was in the 6th form.  It grew longer and longer and probably could have been a small book.  I got a prize for it.  Everything was hand-written at that time and one of my friends managed to lose it.  So I will always wonder how good it actually was.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

Moments when I get lost and everything’s working out.

What is your favourite book title?

The Unbearable Lightness of Being.  I thought about this book a lot before I even read it!

What writers do you most admire and why?

Since I read Remains of the Day, I really admire Kazuo Ishiguro.  I think he writes with beautiful precision.  You might expect this to make his writing cold, but I find it exquisite and moving.  I also hold a candle for Vikram Seth.  He really knows how to use the present tense!

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

People will always read and people will always be suspicious of change.  I cling to the old ways of course.  I love books made of paper, but I am not afraid for the future.

Do you prefer to read or write?

The more I write, the more I want to read, and the more I read the more I want to write.

What are you most looking forward to?

Seeing my first book in a bookshop.

Desert island books – which three would you take?

Predictably, the complete works of Shakespeare (I once found myself crying and laughing out-loud in a café when reading Romeo and Juliet); the Yoga Sutras (I believe they include sneaky ways of doing Maths as well as the physical and spiritual teachings); War & Peace (my mother’s favourite book).

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

I try to be nice to myself.

What’s the best part of a journey?

Hmm… The beginning!

I always wanted to be one. It was only a few years ago that I thought maybe I could be one.

What’s your writing ambition?

This year I gave up my day job. Best thing ever. That was a big ambition. Long term I’d like to write a brilliant screenplay.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

I dunno. I’ve met a few of my heroes and it’s weird – sometimes it’s better to admire them from afar. I’d like to go to the pub with Wes Anderson. But I probably wouldn’t talk about writing, I’d feel like too much of a dick.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

I wish I could get up early. Whenever I’m forced to, it’s brilliant. But on the days I have the choice, I roll out of bed at 9 or 10 like a teenager and feel like an idiot for missing the special bit.

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

Moving to a city where I felt at home for the first time… Finding a place to be and meeting good, good people.

What is it you love about writing?

The intricate and puzzling relationship you have with the reader/viewer.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

Not for me to say! I wrote a new poem about an anchor the other day. I quite like that. Mainly I hate everything I’ve written after six months though.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

The scribbly beginningy post-it note bit. I like the chaos of the early stages.

What is your favourite book title?

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

What writers do you most admire and why?

I love Maurice Sendack. ‘Cause he doesn’t give a fuck.

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Don’t talk to me about E-books. I’m such a luddite. I want Kindle to die.

Do you prefer to read or write?

Come on, seriously?

What are you most looking forward to?

Making my new show. I’m working with a band, and am looking forward to not being alone on stage.

Desert island books – which three would you take?

Can I take the whole Chronicles of Narnia as one? And the His Dark Materials trilogy? If this isn’t cheating I’ll have those two, and Under Milk Wood.

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

Go to coffee shops and stare out of windows.

What’s the best part of a journey?

The train ride there.

My memory is pretty shoddy to be honest – my earliest memory is when I was eleven which I thought was pretty usual until most people I know informed me their earliest was around three or four. (Just Say No Kids!) But to answer the question – I don’t think you really choose to be a writer, or want to be a writer, anymore than wallpaper chooses to be wallpaper – I think you either are, or you aren’t. And I’m still trying to work out if I am.

What’s your writing ambition?

Without sounding like Mr. Move-the-Doorframe-Because-My-Head-Can’t-Fit-Through-It – I’ve kind of achieved my major ambition. I had a book published – admittedly, it wasn’t the kind of book I dreamt of getting published as a kid – but still, that’s all I’ve ever really wanted. If I got hit by a double-decker bus tomorrow, not only would I be the manifestation of a brilliant Morrissey lyric, I also couldn’t be too miffed – not many people even know what they want to do, let alone get to do it.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

Between you and me – and seeing as you’re reading this you’re probably a writer or at least know writers, so please don’t be offended – I tend to not really like writers that much. They’re very self-absorbed, self-important, preachy people. There’s a story I once read about a couple that had a friend who was a writer. They took bets as to how long it would take him to mention himself when they brought up a random topic. It took him two sentences into the discussion before he said, ‘I was…’ When I first heard that anecdote, I laughed. I thought, “That reminds me of someone.” Then I realised that ‘someone’ was me.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

We’d all like our lives to be different in some way, but I think we should all just be grateful to have a life. Okay, okay, okay – I’d like a lot more sex. And I mean a lot. Which is not to say I don’t already get enough, but – you know? – it’s very moreish, isn’t it?

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

Crikey! Getting published I guess. (He says, through gritted teeth.) Oh, and getting that double-yolker for breakfast yesterday.

What is it you love about writing?

Playing make believe – being able to be anyone, go anywhere and explore feelings and thoughts no matter how unsavoury or unpalatable in day to day life. The process of humanising darkness I suppose, although not exclusively. Presently, I like the idea of entertaining people with my writing. Knowing people have laughed at something you’ve written is a great tonic for the isolation you endure in the writing process. Overall, writing is creating and I don’t mean that in a megalomaniac way – it’s an amazing thing. To create. A mind-blowing thing really.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

Not these answers, that’s for sure. I don’t think anything I’ve written is particularly remarkable to be honest.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

Now you’re asking – hard to say really. I think every time you sit down to write a new project – from the first chapter of a novel to the line of a poem on your iPhone – it’s the start of something and every time it’s new and different. I wouldn’t say I have a favourite bit – my relationship with writing is a bit like having a counselling session with an ex-wife for the sake of the kids – we’re trying to learn to live with each other.

What is your favourite book title?

Book title? Probably one of the many I’ve got in my head – possibly: “Group Sex and God Knows What: My Life in a Convent” by Sister Helena Helix

What writers do you most admire and why?

The poets in Guantanamo Bay who wrote their poems on polystyrene cups and got themselves out of that godforsaken place (which still bloody stands believe it or not?) by surreptitiously passing them to their lawyers. The US government called poetry ‘asymmetric warfare.’ How you can twist something as beautiful and pure as poetry into something like that is beyond me.

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Ask my nephews what a paperback is in ten years time. There’s your answer. It beggars belief that publishing (power) houses on both sides of the Atlantic haven’t even begun to push the boundaries of what’s possible with digitisation. Rather than seeing it as a negative, they should see it as a challenge – and do so fast.

Do you prefer to read or write?

I can’t do both at the same time. One takes much less effort, I know that much.

What are you most looking forward to?

Finishing these questions so I can shrug off this feeling of pretentiousness and nip to the toilet.

Desert island books – which three would you take?

Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea. Waterland by Graham Swift. And something fun and fruity – like Jenna Jameson’s autobiography, which I actually own.

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

Funny you should ask this – I actually never thought it existed until last week when I suffered my first bout of it. Nothing I could do – just had to wait for two days and it passed. A bit like an upset tummy.

What’s the best part of a journey?

I’d loved to say meeting new faces and experiencing new places – and sound like a travel brochure in the process – but judging by the tumultuous breakdowns I had last year whilst in Malaysia, I’d have to say – rather sadly and with some regret – coming home.

It feels like I’ve always wanted to write. My dad ran a children’s bookshop and so I’ve always been immersed in books.

What’s your writing ambition?

I am interested in exploring different aspects of human experience, in a compassionate and moving way. In my next novel, I’d like to explore parenthood across the generations and, in particular, how feminism has changed the roles of men and women within the family.

If you could meet any writer from any time and bend their ear for an hour who would it be and why?

George Eliot. Middlemarch is one of my favourite novels and I’d love to discuss it with her. I’d also like to find out more about what life was like for women in the nineteenth century.

In what way would you like your life to be different?

I’d like more sleep! (see below!)

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last ten years?

The birth of my children – they’re beautiful.

What is it you love about writing?

As Atticus Finch puts it, ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it.’ (from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee). This is what I love about writing (and reading): being able to get inside someone else’s skin and walk around in it.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?

My most recent novel, Next To Me. It’s about the impact of violent crime on an ordinary family. It’s based on personal experience: when I was 19, my boyfriend’s father was murdered. It took a long time to process that experience and Next To Me is the result. It’s warm and tender, and I feel I’ve achieved what I set out to do: capture the pain of losing someone you love in such an inexplicably brutal way.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

Submerging yourself in another world and then resurfacing, surprised by what you have written.

What is your favourite book title?

We Need to Talk About Kevin. I remember seeing the book in a shop window and instantly, wanting to find out more. Who’s Kevin and why do we need to talk about him?

What writers do you most admire and why?

There are so many: Shakespeare, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemmingway, Anne Tyler, Jonathan Franzen… But the reason I admire them is the same: they are able to capture the essence of human experience.

E-books? The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

I expect we’ll all be reading from them soon and wondering how we ever managed without them, just as it’s hard to imagine life without email or the internet.

Do you prefer to read or write?

Reading is a pleasure. Writing is a necessity – it keeps me sane!

What are you most looking forward to?

A good night’s sleep. (Have I mentioned that already?)

Desert island books – which three would you take?

The complete works of Shakespeare. Middlemarch by George Elliot and To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. (Btw: my luxury would be a laptop, so I could keep writing – what better place!)

What do you do to overcome writers’ block?

Make yourself write. Set yourself a time limit. Alternatively – have children! It puts things in perspective. You stop worrying about your own ambitions, which is really what writers’ block is about, and realise that the only thing that matters is that they are happy and healthy.

What’s the best part of a journey?

The part when both children are asleep!