Susan Steggall

Q: What were you like at school?

I enjoyed school when the teachers were interesting. But there was one particular English teacher that I just couldn't get on with, and I can still remember the tone of her voice when she asked me a question and was deliberately trying to catch me out.

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

Different things at different times. Definitely an illustrator at some point, but also a gymnast and a teacher.

Q: What is your favourite word?

Fragile.

Q: What makes you cringe?

Fakeness.....and flip flops with socks.

Q: What are you afraid of?

Getting old and not feeling good about my life.

Q: What is your most treasured possession?

Maybe my old fashioned camera, which I don't use much now. It makes a really satisfying clunk when you press the button down and you wind the film on by hand.

Q: What do you do as a hobby?

Pottery, I'm not very good but I love it.

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Salad in the summer and curry in the winter.

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

If I tell you, then I'll have to kill you.

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

Sculptor.

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?

Eleanor Roosevelt.....or maybe Lucian Freud, I think his work is wonderful....or actually, perhaps Leonard Cohen, I went to one of his concerts a little while ago and thought that he'd be someone it would feel good just to be around....or maybe Antony from 'Antony and the Johnsons' I think he'd be interesting.....or John Cale, or Andy Warhol.... I can't decide, could I invite them all to a party?

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

Clear, independent thought.

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

Once you've chosen the path that you really want to take, stick to it and keep going. Don't be put off. Most people who fail, do so because they stop trying.

Q: What has life taught you?

That we're all just people, trying to work things out, and no-one really knows what they're doing.

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

I'd like to stretch out my legs so they were longer and thinner.

Q: How long have you been a writer?

I started trying to make books in 2003.

Q: Where do you do your writing?

In a workshop in the garden, or sitting on the floor with my back against the radiator. But also inside my head when I'm laying in bed at night - which keeps me awake.

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

From day to day, perhaps the answer to both of these is 'being alone', but probably the very best moment is when you get the first copies of a new book through the post. That's fabulous and it takes days to soak in.

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

I loved 'The Famous Five' series.

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

'The Giving Tree' (by Shel Silverstein).

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Don't start checking the post for offers from a publisher two or three days after sending your manuscript off.