People don't realise what a nice thing it is for an actor to go to a job where they know or like everybody, because you're so often having to do new beginnings, starting off on set with people you don't know, having to introduce yourself and make friends.

Acting is about enhancing your life, not representing something that's missing.

Carol Burnett, who played Miss Hannigan in 'Annie', is as funny as it gets.

You do develop a taste as an actress: Chekhov, Ayckbourn: it's the combination of comedy and human drama. I would never want to do anything without comedy.

Very often I'll find out at the end of a book what I put in at the beginning. A sort of process of elimination and discovery in one.

As for genre, my adult books are usually filed under science fiction / fantasy, although some stores put them into romance, and few have stuck them into horror. I consider all my books a mix of steampunk and urban fantasy.

I cannot stress often enough that what science is all about is not proving things to be true but proving them to be false.

That certainly is one approach to take. My own is to acknowledge the inner child and try to work with my first fascination with science fiction. I have tried to build on its idea content and narrative drive rather than to discard them.