I'm thrilled to present the first of what I hope will be many interviews on the blog. In this interview I speak with author Stephanie Holder on the road she took to publishing her first novel, and on her experience with self-publishing. Enjoy!

Still one of my ultimate favourite books is The Silver Brumby, by Elyne Mitchell. Mitchell transported me to the Snowy Mountains, and to the desperate struggle of the silver stallion Thowra to evade capture from humans and protect his herd.

Podcasts are a great way of learning while getting other tasks done at the same time (think boring housework, driving, walks/bike rides etc). Here are some regular ones I listen to, which focus specifically on writing, and always have me itching to get to a pen and paper or my laptop once an episode has finished.

Poetry is often polarising. People either love it, or they think they don’t ‘get’ it, so they don’t go near it. I used to be the latter. But then I studied a beginners poetry unit as part of my writing course last year, and it took only one poem to change that.

When you're feeling stuck and the sight of a blank page can be too intimidating, it can help to do a quick writing exercise to warm up. Here is one prompt I like to use, called Using The Senses.

The Jolly Christmas Postman is possibly one of the most interactive picture books I have read. I would usually read the book lying down on the carpet, in the narrow space between my bed and my wardrobe (it seemed bigger then), so I could spread everything out on the floor. I always went through the book slowly, savouring each item that came out of the envelopes.