Just being surrounded by other people who are dedicated, at different levels and in different ways, to the same craft that you are practicing is a great feeling, and can give you the drive you need to stay focused and determined. 

At the moment The Graveyard Book is the best Neil Gaiman novel I have read (I’ve only started on Neverwhere so will see if this changes!). In his usual style the book is a children’s book and yet it is not – it is simply a wonderful, well-told fantasy adventure about a boy who grows up in a graveyard.

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.