Donna Vann

I grew up in Texas, but have lived in the UK for many years. My inspiration for becoming a children's writer came through the many books I read as a child - I wanted to do for other kids what these books had done for me. Also, my father was a newspaper editor, so writing seemed like a very normal occupation.

It's sometimes hard to force myself to sit down and write, but I have a regular writing schedule of 2 hours a day, five days a week. That may not sound like a lot, but the main thing is just to stick with it.

One of the most fun things for me as a writer is seeing my books take kids out of their ordinary world for a few hours. Maybe they will come back slightly changed. That's what keeps me getting up in the morning, sitting at my desk for the hard slog of writing a book. I love hearing from my readers, at www.donnavann.com