BBC7

Geraldine took up writing as a child, She says she writes "for the fun of it - to go somewhere else and be someone other than me. It's still my chief pleasure, and the thing I want children to get from my books. If writing ever became more laborious than that, then I don't think anyone would enjoy reading what I wrote".

Geraldine was so shy at infant school that she didn't even dare to ask the teacher's name. She didn't like teaching (which she trained to do). Luckily, she was given on a job on a children's story magazine where she was asked to write some of the stories. Her motto is: Don't write about what you already know, write about what you'd like to know. You pronounce her surname Mc-cork-ran (in case you were wondering!)

Geraldine's books have won loads of awards, and include:

• Little Lower than the Angels
• A Pack of Lies
• Gold Dust
• The Kite Rider
• Stop the Train!
• Smile
• The Stones Are Hatching