The sad thing about some of the old-fashioned words, as far as I’m concerned anyway, is that it’s hard to use them in everyday writing because the general reader might not know what they mean. Not that that would generally stop me from using the odd word or two, but I don’t like the idea [...]

If you had the opportunity to hear your favourite writer speak on writing and their books, what media would you most prefer they used?

It always amazes me how a person’s vocabulary, language and sentence structure can change dependent on the person they are talking to and the situation they are in. Beyond talking to children and having a chat with friends down at the pub, that is.

When I first began writing my British education showed up through my word choice. Now, of course, my style is a lot more relaxed. However, I often have to think twice about some of the words I use, not because they are wrong but

I was out buying my vegies last week and as I walked past a blackboard promoting the week’s specials I wondered, and not for the first time, why the person given the chalk is so often unable to spell?

If, for one year, you could only have one book to own and read, what would it be and why?