Comics
I was five years old the first time I realised I wanted to write. It was Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies's fault. Though I didn't find out he was responsible till much later.
I was watching a children's programme he wrote and produced for the BBC called 'Why Don't You (Switch off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead)'. Catchy title don't you think? Only the Children's BBC of the 1970s could come up with a show that tried to talk the viewers into not watching it - or any other programme. Can you imagine trying to pitch that to a sponsor in the multi-channel era of today.
In order to convince the young viewers to switch off their TVs 'Why Don't You' would present a series of features on other children around the country who were having far more fun than we were because they weren't stuck in front of the box. In amongst the reports on sport buffs and stamp collectors was a small item that changed my life for ever.
It showed a group of kids who were making their own comic books. All they needed was a few sheets of folded paper, some felt tip pens and a stapler to hold the pages together and bingo - with a little imagination they were comic makers.
A little light went on in my head. I had paper, felt tips and a stapler. I had more imagination than was healthy for a boy my age. I could make my own comics.
I don't think any idea in my life - before or since - has ever held quite such an appeal. Every molecule in my body was vibrating with excitement. From that moment on there was nothing I wanted to do more than make my own comics and write my own stories. The obsession got so great that the following Xmas my parents confiscated my pens so I would stop scribbling and come open my presents.
I was completely in love with the medium and all its possibilities. That love has stayed with me my whole life and has led me to write comics for just about every publisher in the industry.
When my Dad bought me my first comic at the age of two and a half my Mum couldn't have been more horrified. To reassure her my Dad claimed. "He'll have them for a couple of years then he'll never look at another." Now I'm a parent myself I shudder to think of the predictions I've made that will be quite that wrong.
Enjoy these samples.