As a surrealist painter my major influence was Salvador Dali, with whom I made an acquaintance, purposely living near him in Cadaques, Spain. But from an early age I was also awed by books, and used to make up facsimile copies with my own stories inside from the age of eight onwards. When years later I set off hitchhiking halfway round the world, I couldn't carry paints and canvases, so writing my travel journal took precedence. And whenever I paused for a while, stopping to worm my way into jobs at the last precarious minute when I was down to empty pockets, ideas for my children's f more...
