Ellen Renner

Q: What were you like at school?

When I wasn't reading, drawing or making music, I was busy having adventures in my head. I only noticed the real world when I bumped into it.

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

Kids want to be happy and have fun. Until some grownup comes along and asks: 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' Kids don't believe they're ever going to grow up.

Q: Which three words describe you best?

over-active imagination

Q: What are you afraid of?

Not doing something I really want to because I'm afraid.

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

Yesterday

Q: What do you do as a hobby?

I like doing lots of things: reading, drawing, playing the violin, spinning, weaving and knitting, visiting islands with my family. But my main hobby is fencing. I fence foil with my local club one or two nights a week and would like to do more. You need to be fit to fence, so I also go to the gym a couple of times a week.

Q: What’s your favourite food?

Burritoes

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

Unfortunately, I'm far too polite and self-conscious to do anything truly outrageous. I'm working on it.

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

Lots! If I could have several lifetimes, I'd like to be an artist, a potter, an archaeologist, a gardener, a musician and, if I started young enough, a really good fencer!

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

I was born a very old child and have been growing backwards ever since.

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

Dr Who

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

Kindness

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

Venice. Or the Fox Glacier in New Zealand.

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

Lots of things. But learning not to worry so much would have to come top.

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

I can't remember learning to read, and I can't remember a time when I wasn't making up stories. I just assumed I would write books 'some day'. But there were lots of other things I wanted to do too.

Q: Where do you do your writing?

Anywhere warm! I have a study, but it's very messy and in the winter it's far too cold and draughty, so I write in the sitting room or at the kitchen table.

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

The very best thing is having someone tell you they love your characters, or they couldn't put your book down until they finished it. The worst thing is not having enough time to write down all the stories in your head.

Q: Where do you get your greatest ideas from?

I don't know where ideas come from, but they don't hang around. The trick is to notice them before they flit right back out of your head.

Q: What was your favourite book as a child?

Alice in Wonderland

Q: What book do you wish you had written?

Books are so personal that I can't imagine writing anyone else's, or wanting to. But books that I think are very nearly perfect and enjoy tremendously include Skellig by David Almond, Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, and Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.