‘It’s important to remember not everything you find fascinating will be the same for a reader. The key is to consider whether a ‘fact’ will drive the narrative, deepen characterisation, add to the theme, advance a plot, or instil a sense of place.’

‘New ideas flow in a variety of ways but one great avenue comes from walking the streets! Observing people on trains. Looking out the window.’

‘There’s any number of reasons why someone gives up on a first draft but I think the most common is probably a loss of confidence in the project. To this I say: no one writes clean, publishable first drafts. Everyone’s first draft is terrible but the most important thing is persevering and getting it down on the page.’

‘Education writing is writing for children! It’s just that the sales channels are different, and the briefs more exacting.’

‘Most readers are after compelling stories and interesting characters. The exploration of human experience is a never-ending source of fascination, and story is the great laboratory for articulating this experience.’

‘I don’t write books with the intent of sending a message – if you write a great story there will be themes and ideas that shine through naturally.’

‘When I begin writing a book, I don’t have an outline but I usually know the twist. I love the surprise of where the story takes me. And then when I’m re-writing and editing, I really strengthen the red herrings, twists and unexpected turns of the storyline.’

‘I love speculative fiction the same way I love all fiction – for the joy of being free to let my imagination roam and to see possible new worlds and ways of being. Science fiction is joyfully mind-bending, horror awakens a deep emotional response, and I love the feeling of breathtaking limitlessness in fantasy, either that which takes place in secondary worlds or which makes one or two key changes in my own.’

‘I think originality should be one of the aims of a critic – to say something about a book or artwork that hasn’t been said before. But I also think this should be balanced against humility – the ability to acknowledge and meaningfully engage with other intelligent commentators who have opined on a subject.’