1- I'm a long distance runner. Many moons ago (back when I was 30) I gave up smoking and immediately put on 2 stone. To combat this weight gain I took up running. Initially I couldn't run from here to the house next door without wanting to curl up and die. But I persisted and now I run daily (3- 10 miles depending on route) and have completed a multitude of races, including 5 marathons.

Arlene Hunt

Arlene Hunt

2- I have a fear of motorway driving. No idea why, I've never crashed and am a good driver. But a few years ago I noticed I grew anxious whenever I drove on the motorway, which eventually gave way to full blown panic attacks. Recently I have taken steps to combat this using CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) as it's quite a pain in the backside having such an issue - I'll let you know how I get on!

3- My favourite pastime is running across the Wicklow/Dublin mountains with my German Shepherd Archer. He's 4, and my near constant companion.

4- I'm naturally adventurous (apart from driving it seems). To research Last to Die, I took myself off to the Pisgah National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina to get a feel for what it would be really like if I was being hunted in a remote and wild region.

5- I'm naturally clumsy: I soon discovered, while travailing the Pisgah National Forest, that if there is a tree root to trip over, a bank to slide down, or a river/stream to fall into to, I'm your woman. Fortunately I was able to use some of this 'experience' when detailing Jessie's terrible flight to escape Caleb Swift.

6- I dislike parsley with a grand passion and cannot understand why so many chefs use it as a garnish. Foul weed.

7- Last year I had a dream in which a semi-naked Miley Cyrus (don't ask) shook my hand and gave me the entire plot for a young adults novel. I told her thank you very much, woke up and wrote the entire synopsis down- all 4000 words of it- in a white-hot heat. I recently finished the novel and will send it to my agent within the month. This has never happened to me before, and is unlikely to happen to me again.

8- The same night I had the Miley/plot dream, I found lump on my right breast. Early the following morning I woke my husband, and said: 'A semi-naked Miley Cyrus just told me the entire plot for a YA book, oh and I found a lump on my right breast.' He said, quite calmly: 'I don't know how to process either of those things,' got up and made coffee. It turned out the lump was benign, but the plot was active. The coffee was delightful. In retrospect, it was quite an odd night.

9- I like crying at films. Terms of Endearment, Truly Madly Deeply, The Horse Whisperer, oh anything poignant will set me off, but I love it.

10- If I were not an author I'd be a dog trainer for sure. I'd spend my days covered in dog hair, mud, and outside. Picture a ruddy faced, semi-feral, loo-lah of the highest order. Bliss.