My relationship with inspiration is like one that I would have with a cat: it rubs against me, pesters me, and yowls at me while I’m showering, driving, cooking, or otherwise busy. When I finally make time for it, it turns its nose up at me, and I’m left with fingers twitching trying to recall exactly how the words felt.

My formula for the perfect day starts off by getting up late. Not wake up late, because I like to be able to fully enjoy how comfy my bed is. Have coffee, eggs and a roll. Chat with my husband, which tends to be a recap of the crazy dreams he always remembers in detail (like the time he was President Obama’s secret service agent and they went to the store to buy Hasselpuffs, which is a breakfast cereal with a photo of a Knight Rider-era David Hasselhoff…

Which language do you wish you could speak to ask what question to whom? Portuguese—although my mom’s from Brazil, I only know a few Portuguese words and phrases. I would love to ask my mom about her childhood and hear her response in her native tongue. There are just some things that can’t be translated.

What’s the oddest thing you own? A, for lack of a better term, vase, short and made of clay with blue-green glaze, with a very severe/alien looking face molded into the front of it. My sister made it in a high school art class. I honestly can’t remember if she gave it to me or if I accidentally stole it.

Przedstawienie Recenzenta Jakiej najdziwniejszej rzeczy jesteś właścicielem? Wakacyjny dyplom od dwójki moich ciągle jeszcze małych, a dzisiaj już dorosłych dzieci, który zrobiły dla mnie, w tajemnicy przede mną i za moimi plecami…i do dzisiaj nie wiem jak im się to udało, bo przecież jestem takim uważnym tatusiem. Dzieciaki w nadmorskiej budce z pamiątkami na Helu, [...]

What’s the oddest thing you own? My two favorites are Floyd, a two-foot-tall plastic penguin nattily dressed in a black bow tie; and Spot, a small brown papier-mâché pig. I’ve had them since my college days and they hold places of honor in my den. In college, Floyd had a date…

Any writing rituals? “I always put Pandora on to the Billie Holiday station when I start a writing project.”

What’s the oddest thing you own? “Something called a NoseFrida, a Swedish device that allows me to suck snot from my baby’s nose using my mouth.”

When I’m curious about writers I haven’t read yet, I prefer to read their short fiction first, even if their novels are more well-known. In a collection, it’s the disparity as well as the similarity in the stories that’s interesting. It can also tell you a lot about the writer’s skills, especially if it’s the first time they were published. You can see them stretching and…

What’s the oddest thing you own? A ceramic figure of a winged angel kneeling in prayer, chipped and scuffed from over a hundred battered earthly years. She came to me from a tiny chapel atop a hill on the side of a volcano in the Mediterranean. She’s currently guarding my basil from evil; somehow, the weeds are getting by her, though.

Which book do you feel obligated to read next? I rarely feel obliged to read books at the moment. Either I want to read them, or I don’t read them! This might change soon, as I’m hopefully joining an MA Creative Writing course and will have to cope with set texts. At the moment I’ve finally got round to reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley though.