Writers are often asked what made them want to write. Were there any special circumstances that encouraged you to write?

For me it was more about drawing. My sister and I used to draw wordless comics when we were kids and try and sell them, we mostly sold them to each other. They had simple stories, mostly about food to begin with. Then as we got older they reflected our growing interests and became more complex.

Who would you say the audience of your book is? Some may argue your language is a little too colloquial for teenagers to read. What do you think?

I think if I was writing exclusively for teenagers, Tsunami would be a different book.

You have spoken previously about "wanting to follow the characters." Would you explain exactly what you meant by that?

When I began the book I had Peter as a character in my head. All the other characters were created to serve a purpose in the story. However, once I started writing/drawing their scenes they effectively came alive on the page and started informing how a scene would play out. I was more interested in how the characters interacted truthfully, than contriving how they should interact. This effected the plot of the story.