I am a human geographer – and that’s not just my profession. If you cut me in half, I’ve got ‘geographer’ written through me like a stick of rock. My geographical interests in place, space, identity and community creep into my fiction. I have all my best ideas when I’m walking the dog.
The Shipping News and That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx; anything by Richard Russo; Gilead by Marilynne Robinson; quite a bit of science fiction and most of the Pulitzer Prize winning novels of the last 30 years.
I don't usually eat breakfast unless I'm on a fieldtrip when I become a rampaging, insatiable eating machine. You can't beat a really good vegetarian fry up.
The American novel, the American short story and a dash of sci-fi or fantasy.
A teeny tiny 3.5. There's no VAT on children's shoes, so there are benefits to having small feet.
I write for my job. Writing fiction is a great form of escapism.
Definitely. That and geography, of course. My first degree was joint honours Geography and English Literature.
Someone told me that old mine shafts were used for storing stolen goods. It was pretty easy to write after that.
Aren't we all a bit of both?
Anywhere - my notebook is always with me.
The landscape and culture are a great source of ideas.
Making the familiar unfamiliar.
Cornwall has such an extraordinary history and landscape that it invites the writer to think extraordinary thoughts.
I like the idea that myths don't only belong in the past. I wanted to rethink the idea of a giant and modernise it a bit.
I'd like to be someone or something from a Studio Ghibli cartoon.
I make a really good vegan curry. And I'm pretty good at cakes.
When I was a kid. I was writing all the time.
Give yourself permission to make things up.
My corgi, Treacle, is the best dog ever.
A corgi. They eat a lot, sleep a lot and are very loyal, clever and curious.
The music from my running playlist is upbeat.
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