I love books. I translated them when I lived in Africa – and I worked with them when I was a teacher and a librarian, but I never thought about writing them.

One day, about ten years ago, I decided to become a full-time writer.

My first books were for younger readers. In Drake’s Drummer Boy (1998), Will sails around the world with Sir Francis Drake; in Sam Stars at Shakespeare’s Globe (2006), Sam works with William Shakespeare.

As you can see, the sixteenth century fascinates me. A few years ago, I started to write for older readers, about people who faced very tough decisions in a world that was changing quickly: Lady Jane Grey, in Raven Queen; the lost colonists in A World Away; and the young Elizabeth in Traitor’s Kiss.

What is a typical writing day? I write very early in the morning in a coffee shop. Then I use my computer to re-write and to do my research at home in my study.

I am married with two grown-up children, and I live in Hertfordshire close to London and to Cambridge. I enjoy going to the cinema and the theatre – and anywhere where I can watch other people.