Geraldine McCaughrean

I like working in children's books because it gives rise to such a variety of jobs. One month it may be a picture book, the next a retelling, the next a play, a short story or the start of the next novel. ”

I wept my way through teaching practice. ”

I read hugely as a child, but I slowed up when the print got smaller. I am a very slow reader. I don't know why. Maybe it is like some people chewing their food for ages and some wolfing it down. ”

My brother, whom I adored, typed out a children's book illustrated by himself... at the age of 14. My sister, with whom I always shared a double bed, had that effortless superiority of someone six years older and anxious to show it. But we were each as shy as voles. It seemed safer to keep to each other's company. ”

I had a very happy childhood, but I still used my imagination as a leisure resort. ”

I started writing because I found I could spend more time in my own imagination by doing that than I could by reading. ”

I always thought writer's block was something that prats used as an easy excuse for not doing any work. ”