5. Was Mr Parfitt's garden ok? I'm glad Lottie saved the ants. They are cute and good for the planet.
Mr Parfitt had a lot of cleaning up to do, but his garden is back to how he likes it. Well, until next time... I'm glad you like ants. I like watching them when they communicate with their antennae. When my sons were young, we used to put our hands on our heads and waggle our fingers like feelers and 'talk ant' to one another!
6. I want to be a vet or a teacher when I grow up, when did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Gosh, that's great that you know already, Sophie. I didn't know I wanted to be a writer until I was 40 years old. When I was at primary school, I loved stories and poems, but hated writing things down. I wanted to be a circus acrobat and spent a lot of time hanging upside down from a trapeze my Dad had fixed to a tree in the garden. Later, I decided I wanted to be an archaeologist, and I was one for a bit, and also a history teacher.
7. How did you become a writer?
We were living in Holland and I got a job in the school library of an international school. Part of my job was to read stories to the children, and I thought 'wouldn't it be wonderful if I could write a book that would be put on a shelf in this library?' I found making up and writing stories quite easy, but it was still hard to write things down, and it took me 7 years to get published.
8. What makes you like writing about nature?
Loving nature has been a big part of my life and it plays a part in almost all of the books I've written. I like writing about it because it fascinates me, and makes me fizz with enthusiasm. I want to pass that feeling on to my readers.