Katy Moran

Q: What were you like at school?

I wrote a lot of stories and read a lot, and I like to think I was quite good really. However, I did get into trouble for always giggling uncontrollably at the wrong moment (AWFUL), and being "a madam". I was terrible at maths. I was once told by my form tutor that if my brain was as big as my mouth I would have no problems in life. So I must have been a bit of a pain...

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

A writer or an explorer

Q: Which three words describe you best?

Short, forgetful, daft

Q: What is your favourite word?

Rickety

Q: What makes you cringe?

Remembering embarrassing things that I have done!

Q: What are you afraid of?

Spiders

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

A couple of days ago I had a really big laugh, but my son and my husband make me laugh most days

Q: What is your most treasured possession?

My Anglo-Saxon brooch

Q: What do you do as a hobby?

I haven't had time for ages, but I like making clothes

Q: What strange habits do you have?

When I go swimming, I always use the same locker. That's quite weird, isn't it?

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Strawberries

Q: What do you day dream about?

Exotic places in ancient times

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

I'd still like to be an explorer

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

I can remember very clearly what it is like to be a child or teenager, so sometimes I feel younger, but if I am very tired, I feel ancient

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

Roald Dahl

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

Honesty

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

Egypt

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

It wasn't advice as such, but I had this great boss when I was 18 and worked in an art gallery. I accidentally charged £1,000 to someone's debit card instead of £10, and he said, "Don't worry, no one is going to die as a result of what you have done – we can fix it and it really doesn't matter in the great scheme of things!". I remember this often whenever work gets on top me. Keep a sense of perspective!

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

Maybe to be more organised

Q: What has life taught you?

To spend it doing things that I enjoy.

Q: How long have you been a writer?

Since I was about 10

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

As above!

Q: Where do you do your writing?

I used to have a shed, but now I write at a table inside

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

I love it! It's brilliant. I can go anywhere I like using my imagination, and I get paid for it. The hardest thing so far has been not having maternity leave like most people when I had a baby - that was gruelling!

Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?

Sometimes the landscape around me or reading about exotic places like the Silk Road – an ancient system of trade routes between Europe and China. I've always been an armchair traveller and sometimes a real one.

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

Hard question: I identify with all of them in different ways. Cai in Bloodline Rising was the easiest to write.

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

By writing - you just have to keep at it.

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

I had so many at different times and for different reasons. I had quite a long love affair with The Outsiders by SE Hinton when I was a teenager. The author was only 17 when she wrote her first book, and it is full of energy and passion.

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. When I was fifteen, I wished I was driving across the USA. Anyway, it's a wonderful book.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Write as much as you can and read as much as you like.