I live in a seaside suburb of Cape Town called Muizenberg and swim most early mornings in the sea. It’s wonderfully refreshing and helps me to get ready for the day ahead. And of course I love reading – mostly crime and thriller fiction. I’ve read all sorts of crime fiction, from Agatha Christie when I was young, to the more contemporary hard-boiled authors like Elmore Leonard and Bill James. (And of course I scoff chocolates when I’m reading, which could be considered a hobby!) When it comes to novels for young people, I’m a fan of Mallory Blackman and Stephenie Meyer – both spin a fantastic yarn! I had always wanted to write, and was lucky enough to get onto a creative writing Masters programme at the University of Cape Town about eight years ago. I don’t believe one needs a degree to write, but committing to the course really threw me into the deep end, as I had no choice but to deliver a novel by the end of my two years part time study. That novel is now in my bottom drawer – I suspect a good number of first novels are lurking in various writer’s drawers! – but I’d love to get it out and rewrite it. I’m not sure why I wanted to write. I just had this overwhelming desire to write a book, and finally tried my hand at it, only to discover writing is a bit of an addiction – I want to do more!