Born, Herentals, Belgium.

Army Child till age nine.

Settled back in a small town in the west of England.

Lancaster University - degree in Politics &
International Relations.

Writer.

Who are your influences?

Everyone. I think you're influenced as much by the writing you hate as by the writers you admire. I admire Stephen Crane a great deal but I don't know if that really says anything about my writing. I'd also say it's impossible to be a writer today and not be influenced by film.

What are your themes?

Take a wild guess.

Describe your childhood.

Happy, comfortable, uneventful. Bored much of the time. I liked maps.

Describe your personality type.

Complex. Move on.

What are your faults?

Fickle, disturbing, overbearing, cold, ruthless, secretive, insensitive, lacking humanity, strange, occasionally scary - that's what my friends say. My enemies would no doubt produce a more comprehensive list.

Redeeming features?

I don't know. I'm an all-round fun kind of guy.

Married? Kids? Pets?

No, but all in good time, except for the pets, though I do like wolfhounds and cuttlefish.

What do you look for in a woman?

Looks, intelligence, humor, truth - appalling taste in men is also an advantage.

At a moment's notice where would you take Cameron Diaz on a date?

I don't know Cameron Diaz.

Just imagine - isn't that what writers are meant to do?

Okay. With any woman I don't know it would have to be crazy golf.

If you were banished to a desert island which two things would you take with you?

Cameron Diaz and a Crazy Golf Construction Kit? I don't like where these questions are heading.

Have you ever killed anyone?

No.