The vaguaries of being an author

I still can't decide which is the best bit of being an author. I know which is the worst; when you get writers' cramp and stare at the screen, your mind a total blank, unable to think up even the smallest word. Thank God for a Thesaurus.
But the best bit - is it the moment you finally type the words 'The End' or the moment the publisher phones to say complementary copies of your book are in the post.
And then, there's the ideas behind the story. I was strutting my stuff at some primary schools last week. I have to confess, we always have a fabulous day, talking about all different authors. I was asked the question - where do your ideas come from?
Thinking about it later, I realised there's a bit of me in almost every book I've written. For example, I was in Sudan in a camel market and a was given four carved wooden animals: elephant, rhinoceros, hippo and camel. The camel became the main character in A Dangerous Game of Football.  While a visit to the Souk in Cairo was used in The Bird Children, as was the magic man who gave me a Roman coin and a piece of cotton that burst into flame in my hand.
But the new one - out tomorrow - Legend of the Five Javean (pronounced Jav-e-an), I don't thinkthere any part of me in it, except I listened to the radio as a kid.
I have to say, it's my first children's book for ages and I am very, very excited because the story is a humdinger. (Is that a slang Australian word?)