What made you start writing?

I started writing because I have a bad memory. I spent fifteen years living in London and I can't remember any of it. Fortunately I have written everything down. For twenty years I wrote five hundred words a day; the precise details of everything I did.

I could tell you what I was doing on the afternoon of December 5th 1987 if you wanted me to (I went to a cheese shop). Then some years ago I decided I would stop writing down all these boring details of my life and start to make things up. I realised I was writing a book. I didn't stop.

Could you describe your new book?

"Oswald and the End of the World" is about a boy whose father thinks the world is coming to an end. Because his father is nuts, Oswald has to grow up quickly and try and see what is really going on. The story is set on a strange island, Idlegreen, whose inhabitants seem far too well off and who don't take to being told that their good fortune is about to end.

Have you drawn on Mid Wales and local life in your work?

I moved to Mid Wales from London, via Cardiff. I found it extremely old fashioned here, lost in time. I like that about it. This sense of a place that's not quite keeping up with the rest of the world strongly influenced my book.

What tips would you pass on to would-be writers of fiction for children?

Just write and write and write. I write all the time, in every spare second, it's what I love doing. Most of what I write is terrible rubbish, but because I write so much occasionally something good emerges. If you don't love it, don't do it.

How do you combine writing and your work as a head teacher?

I get asked this question all the time. I manage to do both things by doing very little else. I hate wasting time and have discovered I like writing more than watching television, shopping, travelling, gardening, sport and DIY. I try and keep fit, spend time with my family and that's it. Boring, I know.

What plans do you have for the future?

I write several books at the same time and hope to see them all in print one day. But for now just seeing the next one published is enough. I'd like to see "Oswald and the End of the World" turned into an Oscar winning movie, too.

Q&A with Andrew Strong