Anne Fine sometimes worries that she's spent most of her life with her head in a book.

She started making books for her toys when she was three and wrote her first 'real' book for herself when a snowstorm stopped her getting to the library. She first thought of writing as a way of life when a teacher said, "Find out what you like doing most in the world and then find someone who'll pay you to do it.”

Anne has always been an avid reader. As a child, her favourite place in the world was the public library and librarians became very kind about letting her change her books twice a week even though the rule said only once.

Despite pressure to change, Anne still writes with a 2B pencil so that she can rub out easily when she has to. She works in absolute silence and hides her work from anyone who comes into the room.

Anne lives in County Durham with Richard and her dog, Henry. She has two grown-up daughters.