'I was brought up in a loving working-class family. This instilled a level of safety that allows me to investigate the darker side of life.'

I was brought up in a loving working-class family. This instilled a level of safety that allows me to investigate the darker side of life, exploring another person’s pain and injustices. But there’s always humour: the co-existence of darkness and light.

'Inspiration and good writing don’t just come from sitting at a desk, no matter how good the view. Ideas come in flashes when I’m out-and-about. '

Inspiration and good writing don’t just come from sitting at a desk, no matter how good the view. For me, ideas come in flashes when I’m in a hurry, out-of-place and out-and-about. Twists and truths present themselves when I’m walking the dog.

'My friend’s untimely death galvanised me: I went on an Arvon course, primed by the book she had told me to read, my head stuffed with the English Civil War. '

My friend’s untimely death galvanised me: I went on an Arvon course, primed by the book she had told me to read, my head stuffed with the English Civil War. As I sat at Lumb Bank, I saw a man sailing away from England. He trailed destruction...

'I think there’s always an element of choice for a writer — there is a secret (or not so secret) pride. It’s an inner toughness, an icy shard.'

Writers often talk of an inner compulsion, of having to write. Rachel Carson was big on this. So too was that old showman Ernest Hemingway. But I think there’s always an element of choice — a secret (or not so secret) pride. It’s an inner toughness.

'When they asked if I’d consider writing a Doctor Who drama for them I was excited but alarmed. I’d never written a script before.'

In 1999 Big Finish had been granted a licence by the BBC to produce official full-cast Doctor Who audio dramas, and by 2007 were releasing a drama every month. When they asked if I’d write for them I was alarmed. I’d never written a script before.

'More recently, I self-published my first series in the States. I was the proverbial old dog, learning new tricks! '

I self-published my first series in the States. I was the proverbial old dog, learning new tricks! I designed my own Twitter, Instagram and Facebook banners. I commissioned book covers from a professional designer. I organised a US blog tour.

'I’m busy being a producer’, I said, ‘but hope, at some point, to take a career break and dedicate myself to writing... something'. '

I leaned back in my chair and thought for a moment. I wanted to sound like one of the gang. ‘I’m busy being a producer’, I said, ‘but hope, at some point, to take a career break and dedicate myself to writing something. There isn’t time right now’.

'Where Keats goes into rhapsody over the many forms of beauty in nature, a Fariduddin Attar examines the human ego and the self.'

Where Keats goes into rhapsody over the many forms of beauty in nature, a Fariduddin Attar examines the human ego and the self through the tongues of his allegorical bird assembly. Coleridge’s ice still gives me the chills.

'I found myself trying to get into a prison, past a guard who looked me up on Wikipedia on his phone to check that I was really a poet.'

I found myself trying to get into a prison, past a guard who looked me up on Wikipedia to check that I was really a poet. Inside, I read poems about growing up in the Welsh Valleys, translated into Italian for an audience of grinning prisoners.

'I fell into that pavilion with the intense relief of diving into sleep after a broken night with a newborn baby. I just sat down and wrote. '

I fell into that pavilion with the intense relief of diving into sleep after a broken night with a newborn baby. I didn’t hesitate — I just sat down and wrote. A novel for young readers, a picture book and a premise for a series. A dam had been broken.