Ten Things I’d Like my Readers To Know About Me by Fiona Gibson

I was born in the youth hostel in Malton, North Yorkshire, that my parents used to run. All I can remember from this time is trundling around the corridors of the big old Victorian house, pushing a trolley of wooden bricks, and gorging on red currants in the orchard.

When I was younger it didn't occur to me that I could ever write a book. The thought of producing so many words that made any kind of sense seemed virtually impossible. In fact, apart from vague notions of becoming an illustrator, all I ever wanted to do was work on a magazine and at 17 I landed a job on Jackie in Dundee. My first task was to write the horoscopes which I totally made up.

After three years at Jackie I jumped ship to Just Seventeen in London and was soon known for having the most atrocious desk. During a reorganisation of the office I was assigned the desk next to Jenny, the Features Editor, who was extremely tidy and appalled at the thought of sitting next to me, in case I polluted her environment. 30 years on, we are still the very best of friends. We have been to San Francisco, Cuba and New Mexico together and I hope we'll continue to have adventures until one - or both - of us literally can no longer hobble onto a plane.

I met Jimmy when I was 29 and, three years later, our twin boys were born. Becoming a mother changed me in more ways than I could possibly have imagined. From being a chaotic party girl I had to figure out how to entertain and keep two little babies safe from harm, which came as an almighty shocker, really. But those early motherhood days were also amazing fun and, if I'm honest, I am far prouder of my family than I am of any book I have managed to write.

I have always been a city person. We left London when our boys, Sam and Dexter, were babies, and moved to South Lanarkshire, Scotland where they, and their little sister Erin, would have plenty of room to play freely. It wasn't quite the wilds of the country - in fact, it was a small town - and we were happy to raise our family there. But after 15 years I became terribly restless for change, and was keen to move to a city again. We now live in a flat in Glasgow and I absolutely love it.

For all of those 15 years in a relatively rural place, I belonged to a fantastic women's writing group. I am a firm believer in finding a group you feel comfortable with so you can share ideas and support and encourage each other over a bottle of wine. Of course, some writers hate the thought of sharing their work-in-progress but my writing group friends have helped me enormously.

I write almost every day - certainly every week day unless I am away on holiday, for anything between five and twelve hours depending how much I need to get done. Sometimes people ask me, 'Do you treat writing as a job?' And it makes me laugh because it is my job - one I've had, in some form or another, since I was 17. I love it, and I need to earn a living - I have three teenagers after all. I'm not sure how else I would treat it.

I usually start my day by walking or running in one of the nearby parks with Jack, our collie cross, and then I'm back at my computer and working by 10. If I'm on deadline I do a slew of 6 a.m. starts which are far more productive for me than trying to write at midnight, when all inspiration has withered and died. I actually love writing before everyone else wakes up.

I don't choose the covers for my books and don't feel qualified to do so - although I have my opinions of course. The team at Avon, my publishers, do that, although I do get to see the images and design at all stages. I sometimes choose the titles, but recently my editor has come up with the best ones - it's a collaborative effort!

On my rather cluttered desk right now, apart from my laptop, I have a pink notebook of ideas, a flowery notebook of to-do lists, a compact camera, an illustrated book of Tam o'Shanter for Mum (who lives in a care home), a tube of Soap&Glory hand cream, scissors, three spools of shiny ribbon, a tangle of wires, my favourite Uni Pin pens and some plasters. It's not a terribly pretty sight.