Joe Standerline

Q: What were you like at school?

Quiet and rubbish at spelling. I'm a bit louder now and my smelling is betta.

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

I wanted to be an actor on the telly which actually happened for a short while. I never got to be famous but I did get to hear people shout, 'Action!' and, 'Cut!' and 'You were marvellous luvey.'

Q: Which three words describe you best?

Shy. Dedicated. Quirky

Q: What is your favourite word?

Infantile

Q: What makes you cringe?

Violence

Q: What are you afraid of?

Going to prison

Q: What strange habits do you have?

I bite my toe nails and don't even know I'm doing it

Q: What is your most treasured possession?

My imagination

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Beans on toast with marmite and cheese

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

My neighbours kids were having a Kings and Queens party a couple of years ago so I dressed up as Queen Elizabeth II and made a royal appearance. I was expecting them to fall about laughing but they actually started to bow and curtsey. The following week, the birthday girl's mum had to 'fess-up' as none of the other kids in school believed the Queen would travel all the way to West Yorkshire for one girl's birthday party.

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

Usually younger

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

Sponge Bob

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

Honesty

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

Alcatraz

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

Actions speak louder than words

Q: What has life taught you?

Life isn't always fair and all human beings are born beautiful

Q: What do you do as a hobby?

I fly baby dragons

Q: How long have you been a writer?

For fun about 35 years. Professionally, about 20.

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

I wanted to write a play when I was at school so I did. I asked some friends to perform it with me and we ended up winning a drama competition.

Q: Where do you do your writing?

In my little office on the top floor of my house which faces the back of the house where the poet Ted Hughes was born.

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

Deadlines

Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?

People doing and saying things.

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

There's a bit of me in all of them, unless I'm working on an adaptation.

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

Jump ahead to a different story strand

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum