What are your favourite children's books and why?
The Changeover by Margaret Mahy, Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, They do Things Differently There by Jan Mark, The Devil on the Road by Robert Westall, Out of the Ordinary by Anne Dalton, A Pack of Lies by Geraldine McCaughrean --- I'd better stop there! I like them all for the same reason:­ mystery and magic plus humour and humanity.

Who are your favourite children's authors and why?
All of the above plus Russell Hoban, Peter Dickinson, Robin McKinley, Anne Fine, Philip Pullman, Allan Ahlberg... really the list is endless. There has never been a better time for children's writing and illustrating.

Who or what was your biggest influence in deciding to become a writer?
The local public library I lived near as a child in Lavender Hill, Clapham Junction, where I went every Saturday with my father. It was shaped like a fairy castle with turrets and produced all the Mary Poppins and Doctor Dolittle books for me, which I adored as a child.

What inspired you to write Stravaganza: City of Masks?
A trip to Venice ten years ago with my husband and daughters when we took a gondola ride and the gondolier wasn't handsome enough. It started a train of day-dreaming which eventually led to the Duchessa in City of Masks.

Is there any particular ritual involved in your writing process (favourite pen, lucky charm, south-facing window)?
I have a glass bowl of "power stones" made for me by my youngest daughter, Jessica the art student. They are green and white glass nuggets with symbols and words written on them in gold pen. I have them on the coffee table in my study. I wouldn't say I couldn't write without them but I like to have them nearby and plunge my hands in them while I'm thinking.

What is your favourite colour?
Green, but I also love terracotta and all shades of stone, beige and cream. I hate blue except in the sea and sky and flowers.

What is your favourite food and worst?
Indian food is the favourite. I am a vegetarian but, apart from those limitations the only foods I dislike are beetroot, goat cheese and pineapple.

Do you have a pet?
Yes, I have always had cats and couldn't manange without one. We had two Burmese, mother and daughter, until Easter, when the mother, aged sixteen and a half, had to be put down. Now the remaining cat has to work twice as hard and feels the strain of being an only.

What subject did you enjoy most as school.. and least?
English and sport!

What is your favourite film?
Fellini's 8 1/2. Casablanca and Jules et Jim, But I also loved Lord of the Rings.

What music do you like?
Anything I can sing.