1. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME AN AUTHOR?
I've loved writing my entire life and my entire family are writers at heart. From the age of nine, I was taken into foster care and I needed a distraction to escape the real life situation happening around me. At first I began to write songs, wanting to be a singer when I grew up and then, when I was appointed a library monitor in my primary school, I feel completely in love with books. Come age fifteen I wrote my first novel and have continued to write stories throughout my life.

2. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF?
I would tell my younger self to not worry about what other people say. I was bullied briefly in school and it always made me doubt myself, becoming riddled with anxiety each day, and consumed me. I didn't want to talk about my books or about my writing because it wasn't the 'teenage' thing to do, at the time it was all about sports and looking your best for social media. Even now I struggle to post what I want, and I find myself having a constant battle over not deleting posts that don't get many likes for the sake of everyone else's approval. I've come to realise that the only approval I truly need is of my own, and I'm working on telling myself that every day. Be true to yourself and good things will follow.

3. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER AUTHORS?
My advice to other authors would be to make real connections in the community. If you make real connections, encourage other authors and join in on discussions, others will do the same to you.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD BOOK?
My favourite childhood book would have to be The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I had bought all three books after the first film came out and was so immersed in the story I must have re-read the entire series every three months.

5. WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS' TIME?
I see myself as a published author with a few more books out. I'd like to think that, by then, I would have gained a little bit of a social media following and fan base for these books and continue to work on compelling pieces of work.