You’re going to be talking at the Brisbane Writers Festival about your new book Day Boy. Can you tell us the inspiration behind the novel? Where did the idea first come from?
The inspiration came from a very vivid daydream I had years ago. There were two boys lounging in what looked like a crypt, throwing cigarette butts at a coffin. I knew at once there was a vampire in there, but the boys didn’t seem at all worried. I wanted to know what sort of boys would be like that and why. Day Boy and the world of Mark and his Master Dain was me working out the answer.

When not writing you work at one of the best indie bookshops in the world (and we agree). What makes Avid Reader in West End so special and worthy of this title?
It’s filled with passionate hardworking people that love their job, and love books. We’re all writers or readers, or both, and we’re interested in what people read. Good booksellers don’t just tell you what they like, they help you find what you will like. We also have an amazing boss in Fiona Stager she sets a very fine example for all of us. But I’d like to say we’re just one of many fabulous indie bookshops in Brisbane. Riverbend, Folio and Pulp Fiction immediately come to mind as well.

What is your opinion on the impact of the digital age on books and publishing? Has it made it easier or harder?
I think we’ve had to work harder at doing what booksellers do best, helping people find the perfect book for them. So often people seem to think that bookstores are dying out. It’s a tough industry and it always has been. But bookstores are still around, and the good bookstores are doing well for the same reasons they always have been – passionate, knowledgeable and hardworking staff.

How difficult was it to write your first books and how did you go about getting them read and published?
I was working when I wrote my first books, always juggling time – and that hasn’t changed. It’s a hard industry to break into, but if you keep at it, regardless of the setbacks, work hard, and get better, you’re always in with a chance. But you need to be two somewhat contradictory things – hungry and patient. Publishing can be a slow industry, particularly when you’re waiting to hear back on a submission. That’s also when it’s handy to be working on the next thing. You have to be something of a methodical dreamer.

I’m sure there must be frustrating times during the writing process. How do you overcome the obstacles?
Frankly, some times you deal with the obstacles better than others. It always comes down to the work. If you keep at it, you get better. It helps too, if you write the things you love. A novel can take years to write, so you better enjoy it. And I’ve also been lucky to have made quite a few good friends who are also writers. It’s always good to share setbacks with people who understand what you are going through.

What is one book you loved so much that you wish you had written it?
Argh, there are so many! I’d have to say it would come down to maybe To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, or the Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. At least today. Maybe tomorrow it will be Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy or The Pest House by Jim Crace.

Were your parents an influence on your reason to become an author?
Yes, they were both big readers. The trip to the local library was always an exciting thing for me. And reading made me want to write. I wanted to be a novelist since I was about five.

What authors are fascinating you at the moment?
Kim Stanley Robinson, who just published a novel called Aurora. His science fiction is amazing. My co-worker Krissy Kneen whose poetry book Eating my Grandmother just came out – it’s brilliant. And I’ve just finished reading TH White’s Once and Future King, which I had never read before but loved very much.

What’s a question you would like to be asked in an interview and what is your answer?
That’s the hardest question ever! I guess: is there a better job than writing stories? And, obviously, the answer for me is no!

What are your words of wisdom?
If something’s worth doing it’s worth doing well.

FAVOURITE WEEKEND SPOT TO … 

Get coffee … I’m very much a homebody on the weekend, but if I’m out I really like the Burrow in West End.
Relax …  My balcony which has view all the way to Mt Coot-tha.
Catch up with friends … The End on Vulture St.
Be inspired …  GOMA, and the rest of the Arts Precinct in South Bank.