10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME

1. I'm originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, but I've lived in the UK since 1995. You can blame my English husband for this!

2. I was very shy as a child, and lived in a world of my imagination. In my mind, I was the queen of a magical land called Coligia, where unicorns were real and animals could talk. I thought it was a much more interesting place than Little Rock.

3. I love to read. I've never counted my books, but I must have thousands. They spill out from my bookshelves and pile up on the floor. I read all the time – even when I'm taking a bath or brushing my teeth.

4. I collect frogs. Not real frogs, but frog statuettes and stuffed frogs and frog paintings. I have lots and lots of frogs in my house. Some are very large, and some are tiny. (I've never counted my frogs, either.)

5. My mother was the children's librarian at my primary school. This was great sometimes, because I had the whole library to myself after hours, but not so great others – I never got away with anything at school, because my mother was right there!

6. In secondary school I became much more self-confident and wanted to stand out from the crowd. I bought funky clothes from second-hand shops, cut my hair very short, and wore loads of jewellery. I thought I was exceptionally cool.

7. I've wanted to be a writer all my life. When I was little, I used to write stories and illustrate them myself. Later, I just wrote the stories. I was very proud when I finished my first novel, even though it's never been published (first novels rarely are!).

8. I have a massive brown tabby cat called Bernard. He hardly ever meows. Instead, he makes a funny sort of chirping noise, like a big furry pigeon.

9. My father was a brilliant piano-player. I used to wake up at night and hear him pounding out boogie-woogie in the small hours. I still have the piano he played on. It was made in 1909, and it travelled across to the UK on a boat.

10. I can touch my tongue to my nose. Can you?

yeah thats a really good book

Hi Lee

You are my favourite author. I've read all your books. Kat got your tongue, Missing Abby, Breakfast at Sadie's and Child X etc, love them all. I have written 2 books and on my third. Have you got any tips for me? Love Victoria