I'm a writer, mainly of children's books, but I dabble in articles and short stories. Writing a book can be just as exciting and surprising as reading one - it's hard to believe until it happens, but characters really do take over sometimes! Once they start to speak they take on a life of their own and interact with other characters, so even if I think I know how a story is going to end, the characters could have very different ideas.

I like characters to be fun, and a little bit mischievous. Iver No-Idea is my most unruly character to date - he's a doodle who came to life. He can step in and out of written text and pictures as well as interacting with Eric, the boy who drew him, causing Eric all sorts of trouble.

In my latest book: A Face full of Snow we see Eric trying to enjoy a skiing holiday without Iver No-Idea, but Iver finds his own unique way of gatecrashing Eric's holiday.

I sell many of my books direct at craft fairs and book signings, and it's wonderful when people have a chuckle as they read them, then I know they're on my wave length. I self publish under my own imprint: Lost in a Book and have my books printed locally in York.