When I was a kid, I wanted to be an artist, or a musician, but the summer after I turned 13, I was on a family holiday and my parents decided to take me and my sister to the cinema to see a film called Jurassic Park. Afterwards, I couldn’t stop thinking about the film, replaying every moment over and over in my head. I even began inventing new scenes, imagining what the island might be like years later, the ruins of the park overgrown with trees and creepers, its only inhabitants the dinosaurs that had been left behind when the people who brought them back to life fled. The film might only have been a couple of hours long, but I wanted to stay there forever. So I started writing the story, and a few days later, a thought suddenly popped into my head, seemingly out of nowhere: I’m going to be a novelist.

2) How did it feel when the publisher said your novel was going to be read?
It was amazing – such an exciting moment. My agent had already sent one novel out which was rejected by everyone, and I was starting to think that this one would be the same, so when she emailed me to say that Penguin Random House wanted to publish it, I was over the moon!

3) What's the most difficult part of writing for you? Do you have some advice for beginners?
I find first drafts really hard. I think it’s because – even though I plan my novels – I’m plunging into the unknown, and it never gets any easier no matter how many books you’ve written! My advice for beginners would be to keep going, even if it feels scary, because you can’t edit a blank page.

4) How did you come up with the idea of ACID? 
When I was 14, a friend and I challenged each other to write a story about someone escaping from jail, who'd been locked up there by a sinister authority. I got stuck after a few chapters, but over the years, kept returning to the idea, until finally, I decided to try it as a YA novel. I'd been trying to write a contemporary YA (which wasn't working) when I got an image of a boy and a girl in my head. They were in a building, looking out of a window, and they were hiding – they were on the run. The authorities were after them, and some other people too… I started scribbling notes about who they might be and what they might be going to do, and a few hours later, I had the bare bones of the story that became ACID.

5) One thing that amazed me while I was reading the story was that Jenna changes her identity a few times and this fact doesn't disturb who she is in the inside. How could you create such a strong character?
I always knew I wanted a really strong female character, who managed to stay true to herself no matter what she goes through. I think, at her core, she is who she is, and she’s a real fighter, too, which gives her an inner strength even when, on the outside, she feels as if all hope is lost.

6) When you get stuck with a scene do you have any strategies to get out of writer's block?
I always get stuck at some point! When that happens, I go back to my plan, or try to write around the scene I’m stuck with, to see if there’s a different way to approach things which will get the words flowing again.

7) If you could change anything of ACID, what would you change? (If there's anything now you see differently from when you wrote it)
I don’t think I would change anything – of course, as a writer, you always want to stretch yourself and improve your writing, but ACID was the best book I could have written at the time, and I’m proud of it.

8) What other genre would you like to try writing?
It’s hard to say! I read widely, so I wouldn’t turn the idea of writing in any genre down really. It just depends on where my ideas take me.

9) Do you remember any book that made the difference on your writing or reading journey?
Definitely – a series of books called Tim and the Hidden People by Sheila McCullagh, about a boy who finds a way into a mysterious world. I read these when I was about 5 years old (I was an avid reader, even as a young child) and found them completely gripping – I’d love to get hold of them again! And a book called Black Harvest by Ann Pilling, which I read when I was a bit older – it was the first book I read where I could “see” pictures in my mind which were completely new, triggered by the story rather than places or people I already knew.

10) Would you say teenagers are reluctant to reading, as we are often portrayed in media, or does your experience as a writer proven you wrong?
No, not at all! I’ve worked with a lot of young people over the years, in schools, workshops and writing groups, and have found all of them to be fascinated by stories in one form or the other. Lots do read avidly – others prefer comics or graphic novels, or to experience stories through films, TV or games. But there’s nothing wrong with any of those! I think people get too hung up on the idea that people MUST be reading books, and nothing else matters, when actually, what’s important is allowing creativity and imagination to flourish, and finding ways to facilitate that in ways each individual can connect to in a way which is meaningful for them.

Hugs!