Ask me a question.

Back in November 2005 I started writing The Portal Between (The Portal Series) and I started with Kate waking one cold morning to be greeted by an assortment of children, some of whom were not her own. Some characters grew naturally from that initial dynamic, and others drifted in as they were needed.

Sam was missing and Kate had to help her find her way home, but Kate was increasingly tied up with mothering the children. I needed someone who could be called on to babysit the kids while Kate dealt with the magic and chaos that Sam was about to bring.  In the turbulence that is NaNoWriMo, this involved me yelling at my writing buddy, "I need a new character!"

[image error]A warm hand reached out to brush against her own and she jerked, gasped and almost screamed, but stopped herself, startled from her rambling thoughts. Steaming hot chocolate spilled from the Styrofoam cup and cascaded down her jeans. She stared about, terrified, until she saw Lily, clearly concerned but also covered in hot chocolate. Steam rose in slow curls from her coat and steaming milky chocolate dripped from the hem onto her boots. Lily was a bit shorter than Kate, but not by much. Her eyes were icy blue but laced with a compassionate humour. Her dark hair touched with red, hung in soft waves to just below her shoulders. Today she wore a soft knitted hat and the curls had tightened in the cold damp air so they spilled out in a soft unruly haze. Her long brown coat had taken the brunt of the chocolate spill.

"Oh Gods! I'm sorry, Lily, you made me jump. I was miles away." Kate fumbled in her bag for something to mop up the worst of the chocolate, bursting into unexpected tears. Lily silently handed her a fresh tissue and waited until the tears slowed.

Lily strolled onto the page, fully formed and secretive. She just turned up when she was needed, she knew the answers that Kate and Sam needed and, somehow, she was several steps ahead of me while I wrote. Of the three central women in my Portal series, Lily is probably my favourite, and the one who generates the most questions from readers.

So, here's an offer for you. Lily is going to answer your questions.

She, and I, will reserve the right to fudge her answers, refuse to answer or to reply with "It's complicated." But generally, I'll let her answer pretty much anything you want to ask her.I have a few questions of my own and I'll throw it all together in an interview over the next week.

Leave your questions as comments here and I'll get Lily to come and answer you next weekend.

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