How did you get started?

First I read every how-to book on writing that I could lay my hands on. Some of the advice conflicted but at least the authors all agreed on one thing: there is no single approach. That's not to say I didn't benefit from studying all those books. I learnt a great deal about elements of writing I had never really considered.

After the theory came the practice. I concentrated on short stories for a time but found the criteria magazines placed on contributors restrictive. Although from the way I danced in the supermarket aisle the day I opened a women's magazine and found that one of my short-short stories had been published you would have thought I had just been awarded the Nobel Prize.

But I really wanted to get my teeth into something meatier than short stories. And I did. My first novel, Provoked, was hard work but so unbelievably satisfying. At the end of the day, I had something to show for my efforts, something to share with others. You just don't get the same buzz working as an accountant.