On 29th October 2015, I published my second fantasy novel, The Curse of Besti Bori.

This is my second publication anniversary in three days! As with Breadcrumbs, I thought I would celebrate Besti Bori's 1st birthday with a self-inflicted interview.

What is The Curse of Besti Bori? The second novel in my Nephos fantasy series, in which magical creatures live in secret on top of the clouds. The first novel was The Sheriff.

So, this is a sequel? No. It is set in the same world as The Sheriff but focuses on entirely new characters and locations. It is less of a sequel and more like an equal. I foresee Nephos being like Discworld. You can read them in any order.

When was the novel written? The first draft was written between June 2014 and August 2015. The majority was written in both Junes because I used JuNoWriMo as a way to motivate myself.

Why Besti Bori? In the novel, Besti Bori is the jungle cloud which used to house a peaceful population of skinchangers (people who can change into animals) but fell into ruin when an infection struck the cloud. The infection caused the skinchangers to become a mash-up of their human and animals selves, whilst giving them a zombie-like hunger. The cloud has been quarantined ever since.

And the front cover? I made a quick sketch myself but the real magic came from my illustrator Matt Miles. The cover depicts seven characters from the novel: the minotaur Sheriff Baran, the heroine Sheriff Shaula, and the five hornets (warrior fairies) called Goldrush, Whiteout, Blackjack, Redshift and Greensleeve.

Which is your favourite part? I love the opening poem. I love the bar fight. I love the hornets. Mostly I am proud of the showdown at the waterfall and the events that unfold there. I planned that scene first and worked backwards.

Which is your least favourite part? The beginning needed a lot of redrafting to break through some of the exposition, so that was the most laborious part. A few readers have commented that the beginning and the ending are overlong, but I think that is just my style. I love The Lord of the Rings, so lengthy build-ups and wind-downs feel right to me.

How many copies have you sold? A popular question. It's hard to be exact but definitely less than 40. I don't plan to market any of my novels particularly hard until I have written my third Nephos novel. Three novels seems like an appropriate milestone, after which I will switch gears and put a marketing plan into place.

On 26th October 2014, I published my short story collection, Breadcrumbs.

In honour of the little fella reaching two years of age (the terrible twos!) here is a look at all things Breadcrumbs.

What is Breadcrumbs? A collection of 21 short stories, ranging from horrors to fairy tales, flash fiction to novellas, and three comic rhyming poems.

When were the stories written? Between Autumn 2011 and Autumn 2014. Nearly every story was presented to the Birmingham Writers' Group, which I joined at the same time.

Why Breadcrumbs? I spent ages agonising over the title. How do you summarise 21 very different stories? In the end, I chose Breadcrumbs because most have a fantastical element and Breadcrumbs reminded me of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale.

And the front cover? I have 21 icons, one for each story, which join together to form the overall gingerbread man shape. I came up with the concept but my illustrator Matt Miles brought it to life with his mad skills.

Which story did you write first? Nine Eleven Five, the story about 9/11. This was my first story after nearly a decade away from writing fiction and the last thing I expected to write about. But when inspiration hits, you have to go for it!

Which story did you write last? Little Girl Lost, my spin-off from The Sheriff. I mostly wrote this novella to bulk out the collection, otherwise the printed version would have been very slim. I was determined to have the collection out before Halloween and happily I caught a cold for two days, so I lay in bed, blowing my nose and hammering the keys of my laptop!

Which is your favourite story? Tricky. I love Crispin the Crooked. I am proud of the rhyming and the chilling ending. I also love The Queen of Hearts, which was performed live on Brum Radio very recently. You can listen to the performance on Mixcloud.

Which is your least favourite story? Not my least favourite exactly but I always feel a bit worried about The Monster That Stares Back. The twist is very unpleasant (I was going through a Stephen King phase!) and I do feel obliged to warn Breadcrumbs readers that there are dark stories inside.

How many copies have you sold? People love asking this. Kindle Direct Publishing don't make this easy to calculate and I can only track back 12 months. Basically, not a lot. I have probably made less than £50 profit. But we're not in this for the money!