| My hair colour: | Brown |
| My eye colour: | Brown |
| My shoe size: | 11 |
| My star sign: | Capricorn |
| My favourite book when child: | The Secret Seven |
| My favourite fictional character: | Patricia Highsmith's 'Ripley' |
| Books that inspired me to become a writer: | The Doctor's Wife by Brian Moore; Dubin's Lives by Bernard Malamud; the short stories of Ann Beattie and Raymond Carver; I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier (which was the book which made me realise that young adult fiction could be as complex and well written as the best adult fiction. |
| My favourite author: | Brian Moore |
| My ideal reading position: | Wherever the light's best |
| My usual means of marking a place in a book: | Receipt, a postcard or a promotional bookmark. |
| My favourite time of year: | October - those crisp, clear days |
| My favourite time of day: | Late evening |
| My best time for working: | Mid-afternoon |
| The first piece of writing I was paid for was: | "The Foggiest" was commissioned in 1989 but not published until 1990. A fortnight after the letter about the novel, I sold my first adult short story, "Witchcraft" which "Ambit" magazine published in August '89. I got £10 for it. Both led to wild celebrations! |
| My favourite TV show: | Homicide Life on the Street |
| My favourite movie: | The Godfather, Parts 1 and 2 |
| My favourite film director: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| My favourite album: | "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" by Joni Mitchell |
| My favourite single: | Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles |
| My favourite savory food: | Fish chowder |
| My typical bedtime is: | 1.30a.m. |
| My favourite year of childhood (age 4-16): | Age 4 |
| My mousemat design: | Plain grey |
| The tidiest place in my home is: | The living room |
| The untidiest place in my home is: | My girlfriend's study |
| The working tool I would least like to do without: | My Apple Mac computer |