This blog is about four of the things I most love to do .

Write, walk, cook, talk.

Not necessarily in that order and often at the same time.

There are other things I love to do.

But four is probably enough for one blog and none of the others rhyme with walk anyway.

Write: I started writing my first children's novel three years ago and am now re-drafting it after a year of working on a series of four books as a 'ghost writer'. Working as part of the Superstar High team has been hard work but great fun and an amazing learning experience. Now, after a long absence, I'm enjoying subjecting my own book, The Sea Cucumber's Revenge, to a major overhaul. My Number One Target for this year is to find a publisher for it - with the help of my fabulous agent, Jenny Savill. I'll be posting progress reports here.

Walk: Snow, rain, fog, sleet; whatever the weather, I pull on my walking boots (or, more often, my wellies) and march through the Cambridgeshire countryside with the dogs running along ahead of me. Most days, it's a half hour walk in the morning and another in the afternoon around the local fields. But as often as possible, I pull out my Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps and plan a longer route. I aim for once a week but it doesn't always work out that way. The dogs pile into the back of the car (they'll have been in a state of frenzied anticipation from the moment they saw me take the map out of the drawer; by now they're besides themselves with excitement!) and we head off to explore. Sometimes a friend will come along; it's great to have company and there's something comfortable about walking and talking at the same time. But I'm also happy if it's just me and the dogs striking out on our own. I just have to be careful I don't get caught talking to myself; I spend a lot of time plotting and devising dialogue for the books. Now that Father Christmas has brought me an iPhone, I can use the voice recorder for memos so I no longer have to try to hold on to that perfect turn of phrase by rehearsing it all furiously all the way home!

I'll report back on the best walks I find; they'all be between one and three hours long, suitable for dogs off leads - and preferably with a dog-friendly pub or cafe somewhere along the way!

Cook: About 80% of the time I love to cook (the other 20% I'd rather be doing something else. Anything else!) I try to make things the boys will like - but they are well-trained and know they have to eat it even if they don't! The recipes I like the best are ones that make a second meal from the left-overs; I love that thrifty, ever-so-slightly smug, make-do-and-mend feeling when the last ladleful of green chicken curry becomes tomorrow's chicken noodle soup. When I come up with something edible I'll post the recipe; the big disasters and the fishfinger-and-baked-beans days I'll keep to myself.

Talk: Over family dinner, or a cup of tea at the kitchen table, in the pub over a glass of wine, at the school gate.. there's always stuff to talk about. And it's not just using words, I love the words themselves. My PhD was in psycholinguistics; I have an etymological dictionary and I'm not afraid to use it. I'm going to share my favourite words, both new finds and old friends, along with some fascinating linguistic snippets; the kind I usually foist upon my long-suffering family. Sometimes they humour me and look interested. More often their eyes glaze over and they start sidling towards the Xbox...feel free to do the same!