Why did you want to be an author?
That's an interesting question. It's not really a conscious decision. I never decided to become a writer, writing stories was just something I did. I think it's a bit like being a footballer or a dancer - you just do it because that is something that really appeals to you. I started writing stories so young that I didn't say 'I am going to be a writer'. When I got to about 18 I realised that there were people who made a living out of this - I wasn't destined to be one of them for quite a while but I kept on trying.

Did your family encourage you to be a writer?
Yes, not strictly to become a writer but they encouraged my interests. My dad is an historian and writes history books, my mother is a drama teacher who writes stage plays so anything to do with writing or the arts was really encouraged. When I was a young boy I thought everybody went to the library every day and everyone went on trips to see old castles - it was just natural to me. So when I said I had written a book everyone was delighted but no one was really surprised.

How long did it take you to write your first book?
My first book took me a long time because I hadn't gained any experience of writing books. The first book I got published, Benny and Omar, took me about a year and a half.

How many books have you written?
I have written twelve books. I'd love to be like Roald Dahl or Enid Blyton who have written around 40 or 50 books. It would be amazing to have that volume of work. I hope to do one every year.

Which of the books that you've written is your favourite?
That's a very difficult question as I like different books for different reasons. I wouldn't say I had a particular favourite but I like Benny and Omar because it was the first book I had published. I like The Wish List because I had always wanted to write a ghost story. I liked the little picture books because they were for my son. I liked the second Artemis book because it was the first book where I thought I had really got my style right and I like the new book because....it's shiny!

Do you base any parts of your books on real life?
Yes, quite a lot. People say that I couldn't because my characters are so fantastical but if you strip away all the gadgets and the fairies and the magic in the middle you have personalities. I think that's true of a lot of books. At the core of the book are people and if the people don't work no one cares about them and the book won't work.

What made you think of making the fairies a bit like something from a US cop show?
When I was young we were allowed to stay up and watch two programmes after 9 o'clock. One was Roots and the other one was a cop programme called Hill Street Blues - it was the first realistic cop programme where the cops weren't all like superheroes - they were real people. I really loved that show because I felt like a grown up watching it. It had a huge impact. I thought wouldn't it be hilarious if you had these same cops spouting all this tough jargon and they were fairies?! Generally, fairies in Irish literature are not developed, they're kind of floating around at the end of the garden occasionally granting you a wish but I thought there had to be much more going on.