I just wanted to mix all these things into a book and I wanted to read that book. I suddenly had all this access to so many books and I was trying to find a book with every fantasy element that I enjoy, so that’s multiple fantasy races, a magical school setting, with sword and sorcery mixed in there as well, fantasy creatures, political imagination, a vast medieval-style world with an almost 18th century feel and pistols and warfare. I worked at Penguin Random House for two months as an intern and it was very exciting to be around all these authors and people who had the same passion for reading as I did. So, what gave you the idea of writing The Novice/Summoner book one? I’m not particularly angry now, I guess I would just want to hear about what their motivations are and if they still feel the same way. I’m not actually sure how I would react if I spoke to the boys that bullied me. The boy’s mum was actually being really racist about some women who were queueing up in front of us. Interestingly enough, I was queueing at a cinema with my mum and she recognised the mother of the boy who had trapped my finger in a door and damaged it quite badly on the final day of school. I’m not sure, that’s a really tough question. We’re so sorry you had a really bad time from your bullies at school, what do you think you would say to them now? I hated being bullied for my race because it was so unjust. The way Fletcher really reflects me is his hatred for injustice. He gets some racial bullying while he is there for being a dwarf. But perhaps the character who reflects that more is Othello, Fletcher’s best friend and who is the only dwarf to go to Vocan’s Academy. When I was younger I was bullied a lot in school and there was quite a lot of racial bullying because I was one of the only Asian people who went there.

Does your main character Fletcher reflect anything or anyone in your own experiences?

The novice matharu