When did you start writing? At school. I remember getting a gold star for a piece of writing in yr 5, and that was the first (and for a long time the last)
occasion anyone ever told me I was good at anything. But it counted for a lot. Somewhere between the age of 7 and 12 I had a love affair with reading, and being a writer seemed to be the most incredible, magical thing. But I was so in awe of the novels I enjoyed, it never occurred to me that writing books was something someone like me might be able to do. That moment came quite recently.
Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from? A tiny, shabby-looking shop on the corner of Whitfield St and Lausanne Rd. It's open odd hours. Sometimes I go all the way down there only to discover it's shut. The other day I was outside at just gone midday and the closed sign was in the window. But I've been past at three in the morning before now and they've been open for business. If the light's on I'll pop in and get what I need.
Can you give your top three tips to becoming a successful author? 1. Read as much as you can. And write whenever you can. Observe closely. Listen to how people speak.
2. Never be afraid to write what you want to.
3. Be critical of what you read and even more critical of what you've written.
Favourite memory? Waking up in a great mood really early on a beautiful sunny morning, I thought: what a perfect day to take the Porsche for a spin in the country. I threw on some clothes, grabbed my keys and dashed out into the street only to find my beautiful white Porsche 911 mk blah blah blah was gone. After running up and down the street to check I wasn't mistaken about where I'd parked it, I resigned myself to calling the police and reporting it stolen. It was only when the officer on the other end of the phone asked for the Porche's registration that I realised I didn't own one. I didn't even own a car.
Favourite place in the world and why? Workington steelworks in Cumbria. Came across it by accident. Don't know if it still exists today. By day, an enormous sprawling eyesore, by night it was transformed into a fantastic fire-breathing beast. A friend and I decided we had to take a closer look. We found our way in through a hole in the security fence and spent the whole night sneaking around the vast complex. Miles of hissing pipes. Rivers and waterfalls of spitting and sparkling molten steel. And only the occasional distant figure, their face concealed behind a chrome helmet. It was part cathedral, part machine, part giant alien spaceship. Very mysterious, very magical. Breathtakingly beautiful. Breaking in of course was a very naughty thing to do and I would never encourage that sort of behaviour.
What are your hobbies? There used to be a raft of activities I was passionate about: street-skating, dancing, football, climbing and hill-walking, white water kayaking and surfing, but over the years the injuries I've sustained have taken their toll. These days I can barely walk. I used to paint and draw a lot when I was younger. I also sang and played the electric guitar in bands. But now that I write there doesn't seem to be time for anything else. I swim and ride my bikes.
If you hadn't been a writer, what do you think you would have been? I was an actor before I started writing. And loads of other things before that. Age ten I was set on being either a fisherman or a stuntman. I've had occasional fantasies about being a lighthouse-keeper. But the real dream would be to spend my days on a surfboard chasing waves.
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