A friend of mine has just finished reading Driven to Distraction. He told me he kept hearing my voice as he read it. I guess that's not surprising as it is written in the first person and he does know my sense of humour.

The voice of a character is very important to me. When I can hear them talking in my head, I know I've got them right.

I will detail physical descriptions of characters because, obviously, the reader has to be able to picture them; but for me the character often remains faceless. I wish I could see them in that level of detail but it's usually just a human form in my mind, but I always hear the sound and tone in their voices and I know how they think and how they feel.

Sometimes I will end up rewriting a scene or chapter or even take the book in a different direction; purely because I realise the fully-formed character wouldn't do what I planned for them to do.

I realise that last paragraph sounds a little disturbing. I don't mean characters are starting to talk to me and take over my life. They're not real...although I have felt quite sad and guilty when I've killed one off. I've also sometimes cringed at the things some of them say, even though I'm the one typing the words!

For those of you that have already met Shauna, the courier in Driven to Distraction, you'll understand what I mean.