When and why did you start writing?

For a long time there was no 'I want to be a writer' feeling. I'm not sure there is now. I want to write. That's different. It's the very real thing of working on stories that I want. Not seeing my books on a shelf. Or the myth of making money. They are side effects of doing the thing I want to do, and justify it. It's impossible for me to say why I want to write other than that when I write everything gets better.

When I was younger I thought I'd be an artist, or, inevitably at a certain stage, a rock musician. Those things I did far more deliberately. But looking back from where I am now, there were always those lyrics. Or, on the back of the pictures I drew when I was little, small stories of the events I was unfolding. I guess it was the thing I couldn't stop doing.

How long did it take you to write 'The Long Dry' and how did you find the process?

There are two answers to that. Physically, The Long Dry was written and typed up in ten days. So one answer is 'ten days.' But given the theme - the setting in the place I grew up, the more personal events - the other answer is 'all my life.' You pretty much work all the time. Constantly dipping away into another place to think things through, work on a part of a story. It's difficult to do that when you're opening credit card statements, or buying washing powder or whatever. So you have to be able to function normally, and I think a lot of the process, for me, happens invisibly first. Then, when it's ready, it comes out. With The Long Dry it was an intense, focussed short time. It was like having to carry a full glass of water across a room without spilling any. I was frightened of dropping it until it was down in one piece.

How did you feel when you found a publisher for your first book?

That things would begin. I'd given myself two years to make writing the primary thing. If I hadn't got there by the end of that time, then I'd promised myself I'd try and get real - get a proper job, something. By January 2005 there were only a few months left of those two years. I determined to just write, regardless of money etc. In the time I had left, I wrote two books. The Long Dry was the last. It was accepted for publication quickly. It validated everything.

What themes are dealt with in the book?

Places - not just the physical space we're in, but the relationship we have, the things we do, the choices we have to make to change those. The way we can get our heads down doing a particular thing and just stumble forward doing it, inanely. The importance of getting our heads up and questioning that process. And how that is dangerous. Remembering things, and how memory is inventive. And the invisible things that break us down. Our ability to survive them, or not.

Do you draw inspiration for your writing from your locality?

That is certainly the case with The Long Dry. The children's stories I wrote a few years ago are also certainly influenced by growing up with the space to pretend. But a lot of my other work is perhaps more driven to portray how another place lacks those things I find inspiring here. Key to what I write seems to be a sense of place, or else of displacement. So belonging is certainly a major theme.

Do you write for a living or do you have another job?

I was supply teaching. I've worked in a Behavioural Unit. I'm also employed by large wine companies to run various events. Mainly things I make good money at in a short amount of time, without contractual commitments, so I had the chance to get stuff down on paper when I need to. As a side business I run a small wine shop, selling through 'Gifted' - a flower and gift shop in Aberaeron. But since the book came out I've dropped a lot for a while. At least until I can outrun the bank manager.

What are your plans for the future?

To write as well as I can ...and to keep outrunning the bank manager.

Q&A with author Cynan Jones