I was about to get tangled up with the worst literary agent and the worst publisher imaginable, whose combined efforts would very nearly reduce my writing career to ashes before it had even properly begun. It was a terrible time, and I'd basically given up when, out of the blue, I was offered my first proper publishing deal and the Ben Hope series was rescued from oblivion. I still look back on that bad time and wish there had been a way of knowing how to avoid taking those potentially ruinous steps. There's a lack of proper education for aspiring authors, and that's partly because most of the people who teach it have never done it. What's your favourite word? Gobshite. I have no precise understanding of what it means, but it's just a wonderful word. Which fictional character would you most like to meet in real life and why? Obi-wan Kenobi, so I could learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi. What makes you keep picking up and reading books? I have to say that I very seldom read fiction now, and when I do it's most likely going to be one of the well-thumbed 'old faithfuls' that I know I can rely on. These days when I pick up a book I haven't read before, it's usually a non-fiction work that I'm using for research purposes, or appeals to a personal interest such as astronomy. How much research do you put into your books or