I can get inspiration from all kinds of places. The stonehooking trade - the theme of my first picturebook - was one aspect of local history that I had always been interested in. I found out when I started my research that there wasn't very much written about it. Since I wanted to do a unique picture book to dedicate to our new baby son and since he was born in the area, it seemed like the perfect subject to write about.

I found inspiration for the second picturebook -The Painted Chest- in a quote from the Greek philosopher Socrates that I just happened to run across. It was "Beware the barrenness of a busy life." I started to imagine a society where people just worked all the time. They had forgotten that man cannot "live by bread alone." They needed to be reminded that life would always feel drab and colourless if they did not stop every now and then to appreciate the beauty in the world around them - in nature, art, music and dancing.

The idea behind the "Goodfellow Chronicles" started as just a fleeting thought about how some people may have been inspired to do great things throughout history - inventors, scientists, musicians, artists, writers, etc. The concept of The Sage was born - a race of miniature creatures, disguised as mice in order to remain undetected as they whispered words of inspiration into the ears of humankind. There had to be an opposing force to The Sage, of course, and so The Fen came to be - shadowy creatures who delighted in whispering words of evil into the ears of anyone who might listen. To make things exciting, the whole world is turned on end when Sam, a 10 year old boy, accidentally comes between these age-old enemies.

Learning to sail with my family on our boat 'Raconteur' served as inspiration for The Strange Voyage of the Raconteur, a novel about a boy's coming of age and his chance encounter with an aging sailor, a mysterious boat and an ancient and powerful relic.

My newest novel, Carew, comes from years of fascination with 'cryptozoology'- the relatively new branch of science dedicated to the search for lost and hidden life. Since childhood (and reading my first Jules Verne novel, of course!) I have been intrigued with tales of strange, 'otherwordly' creatures that might exist somewhere on the planet - sea monsters, mothmen, yetis, sasqatches and all the others, too.