One Minute With: Terry Pratchett, novelist

Mother knows best: Pratchett says his mum is his heroine (David Sandison)

Where are you now and what can you see?

In a rather nice hotel (in London), and I can see my publicist smirking at me.

What are you currently reading?

I will go back to Gavin Weightman’s ‘The Frozen Water Trade’... which you look at and think ‘how in heaven can this be interesting?’, and it turns out to be absolutely amazing.

Choose a favourite author and say why you admire her/him

GK Chesterton, especially ‘The Napoleon of Notting Hill’. I like his way with paradox. My granny lived in Beconsfield and he did too. She told me that he was a big fat man with a squeaky voice.

Describe the room where you usually write

It’s a building separate from the house with a lot of books. If you could get books on the ceiling...

Which fictional character most resembles you?

Commander Vimes from ‘Snuff’, who starts out as a copper and ends up as the knighted chief of police. He realises he is no longer a man of the people, though he’s always seen himself as that. His wife has to explain how he should do things now.

Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

My mum, who urged me on.

Terry Pratchett’s novel,‘Dodger’, is published by Doubleday