the studio at some point each day for reasons of health and sanity. I like to keep in touch with other creatives so I'll make an effort to catch up with them via email or chat -- the freelance home-working life can be isolating at times, so this is important. If I have a deadline, it's eyes down, blinkers on and buckets of Rooibos tea with the odd splash of caffeine. Ideas don't seem to respect the time of day -- sometimes I find myself back in the studio when I should be in bed. I'll madly scribble something in the half-light, which may or may not make sense the next day. What's your favourite children's book? From my early childhood it's got to be Babar's Childhood by Jean de Brunhoff. The first book contains an illustration, which still has the ability to cause leakage of tear ducts. This image of Babar crying next to his mother, who has been shot by hunters, is effortlessly emotive, powerful and timeless. It's quite edgy -- I suspect it might be considered too upsetting for a picture book now. Who is you literary hero? Maya Angelou, because of her 'never give up in the face of adversity' attitude. You need that if you want to be published. I've read all the books in her autobiography. I had a curious incident of Maya Angelou-related synchronicity one Christmas: I was on a bus next to an American man who turned out to be the Civil