Hi, Lazaros! I know you and your sister, Eliza!
I think a woodlouse is called a woodlouse because when it's sitting on a bit of wood it makes the wood look all lousy and nasty. And did YOU know they're much tastier than they look?

I like them all, but I have a special fondness for the Kit Kat.

I based him on you, Hanna. No, not really. I just wanted to make a really nasty and stupid villain to make people laugh.
p.s. Thank you!!

Well, Patrick, there'll be at least eight books in total. Thank you, come again!

Between four to six months, depending on how lazy I am being.

Because I don't think there are any rules when it comes to writing, Quinn. You can do whatever you feel like. .it like feel you if backwards sentence a write even can You

Umm... well, that's a tricky question. I originally wrote the first Mr Gum book about 6 years ago when I was 28, although it took a while longer to turn it into a proper book. But I have enjoyed writing silly stories ever since I was small, maybe 7 or 8 years old.

Another good question. Hmm. Let's see. Mostly I start with a general idea (e.g. Mr Gum leads a goblin army or there's a haunted windmill in Lamonic Bibber) and I just start writing it. I usually have the ending in mind but I don't know what's going to happen in the middle until I am actually writing it. Often when I am writing the middle bit, the story starts taking some very unexpected turns, and I will come up with a different ending to the one I had originally planned.

Once the first draft is written I go back over it with my editor and we work out which bits to change. Usually that means cutting out a lot of stuff that's not necessary and tightening up any bits that are 'dragging' a bit. It's hard work but fun!

Wow, thanks for your nice comments, Jessica. I hope you get to read the other half of You're A Bad Man, Mr Gum! soon if you haven't already. Yes, I have been to New Zealand and I loved it there. In fact, I lived in Auckland for a whole year. While I was there I ate a lot of sushi and far too many 'Cookie Time' cookies. YUM!

Hi, Charlie. I would like to write adult books one day but at the moment I'm so busy with the Mr Gum series that I haven't really got time to think about any other stories.

Yes, as I've said elsewhere, there will be at least eight Mr Gum books in total. I think it's great that you want to write books. It's hard work but it's the best feeling in the world to finish a story that you think is good.

I think you should make a necklace out of pretty beads and give it to her as a present. Maybe that would help, I hope so.

Forty.

I write in my room at my desktop computer. Sometimes when the writing isn't going so well I take my laptop to a cafe and sit there trying to write but really just having a lot of coffee and cakes, and looking at the pretty waitress I'm too shy to talk to. Maybe I should make her a necklace out of pretty beads. If all else fails I go to my parents' house for a few days. It's good to change the place you write when you get stuck sometimes.

I just wanted to think of the most boring possible idea for a TV programme for Mr Gum to watch. Bingo! Up popped 'Bag of Sticks'!