| My hair colour: | Brown. | |
| My eye colour: | Sludge green. | |
| My shoe size: | 6. | |
| My star sign: | Leo, according to which I ought to be a raving extrovert, but an astrologer friend assures me that Venus rising exerts a calming influence. | |
| My favourite book when child: | Black Beauty. | |
| My favourite fictional character: | Puddleglum, the marsh wiggle in Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis. | |
| Books that inspired me to become a writer: | as a child, I loved Monica Edwards' books about Romney Marsh and Punchbowl Farm. | |
| My favourite author: | currently: (can't choose just one!) Barbara Kingsolver, William Trevor, Sue Gee, Michele Roberts, Vladimir Nabokov, and my friends and support group: Chris d'Lacey, Adele Geras, Linda Sargent and Jean Ure. | |
| My ideal reading position: | In bed. | |
| My usual means of marking a place in a book: | Bookmark. I collect them. | |
| My favourite time of year: | Now (May/June). | |
| My favourite time of day: | 5:30am | |
| My best time for working: | 5:30am | |
| The first piece of work I was paid for was: | RUN WITH THE HARE, my first published book, which was about animal rights. | |
| My favourite TV show: | Gardeners' Wolrd. | |
| My favourite song: | "Down by the Glenside", an Irish rebel ballad. | |
| My favourite actor: | Rupert Graves. | |
| The creature comfort I would most unwillingly relinquish: | My cats - all three of them. | |
| My favourite sweet food: | Grapes. | |
| My favourite savory food: | Pasta with pesto, cheese and a green salad. | |
| My typical bedtime is: | 10.30pm | |
| My favourite year of childhood: | 10. | |
| My mousemat design: | "A Christmas Story" with an angel design by Brian Wildsmith. | |
| The tidiest place in my home is: | The garden shed - it's new and we haven't had time to clutter it up yet. | |
| The untidiest place in my home is: | My desk. | |
| The working tool I would least like to do without: | My brain, though thare are far better ones. | |