John Brindley

Q: What were you like at school?

I was not an attentive pupil and left school at fifteen years old with no qualifications. But I came to regret it, of course, and later studied engineering and Englich Literature and Economics.

Q: What did you want to be when you were a child?

I really with I could answer this one with something fascinating, but I simply did not think in that way about the future. I suppose I was always ready to accept that I'd be a truck driver or something, like my dad.

Q: Which three words describe you best?

Intelligent Tenacious Fit

Q: What is your favourite word?

Scribble - it's one of those words that the more you say it, the more strange and meaningless it sounds.

Q: What makes you cringe?

Chewing silver foil - I've only tried it once, that was more than enough.

Q: What are you afraid of?

Jellyfish. My wife Jakki and I were stung swimming in Spain a couple of years ago. It hurts!!!!!

Q: When did you last have a really good laugh?

I laugh a lot when I'm with my three year old granddaughter - the things she says are so funny and beautiful at the same time.

Q: What is your most treasured possession?

The silver pencil my son Robert bought for me on Christmas. I've written about nine books with it.

Q: What do you do as a hobby?

I keep fit. Gym training, running, cycling, playing squash.

Q: What strange habits do you have?

I shave all my body hair every day.

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Fish. Mackerel in particular, baked.

Q: What do you day dream about?

Oh, millions of things. It's essential for a writer to dream and to imagine all kinds of things, from the microscopically small to the universally large.

Q: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve done?

What a question! I have done outrageous things, but I'm not to sure I should be writing about them here.

Q: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

To be a scientist - a physicist, to be precise.

Q: Do you feel younger or older than your current age?

Younger, MUCH!

Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

Albert Eistein.

Q: What quality do you most admire in a person?

Intelligence.

Q: What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?

I love travelling abroad - my wife Jakki and I spent a whole month in June 2009 camping in Fance and Spain. But the place I love most, the most beautiful and fascinating is the coast of Cornwall.

Q: What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?

Avoid negative people.

Q: What would you most like to change about yourself?

My temper.

Q: What has life taught you?

That to truly appreciate happiness, it's essential to have experienced great sorrow.

Q: How long have you been a writer?

My 13th book comes out in 2010, which means I've been published for 13 years. But I suppose I've been writing seriously for 18 years or so.

Q: Was there a specific moment in your life when you decide to become a writer?

There must be, I suppose, but I can't remember when it was. I just know that as soon as the idea was lodged in me, I couldn't get rid of it.

Q: Where do you do your writing?

Either at home at the dining table, or in the coffee house in my nearest town.

Q: What are the best and worst things about being an author?

Best thing is that my time is my own to arrange as I will. The worst thing is the anxiety involved with trying to get new project off the ground.

Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?

Science. I use aspects of modern science and technology as the basis around which to construct a story.

Q: Which of your own characters do you most identify with?

Blake, in my book LEGEND, published last year. He is a lot like me, when I was younger.

Q: What do you do to combat “writers’ block”?

I've never experienced it. I write every day, unless I'm too tired or ill, which is hardly ever.

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

The Dr Dolittle series. I loved them.

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Be ready for a rough time. It's going to be difficult enough getting published in the first place, and then your first book will probably not do all that well. It's a tougher life than most people think, being a writer.