1. Real ales such as Hobgoblin or Lagavulin single malt whisky.

2. Red (no surprises there, given my love of horror).

3. Can't be bothered to answer this one, as I don't play (I once heard the National Lottery described as "the moron tax" which made me laugh my head off).

4. A prawn cocktail starter. For the main course, slow cooked roast lamb, served with mint sauce, gravy, roast potatoes (cooked with goose fat), honey roasted carrots, honey roasted parsnips, and peas. For dessert, lemon meringue pie, served with clotted cream (a speciality of southwest England, where I live).

5. Hell, yes. I only have a phone because I finally caved in around 2015, when after fifteen years of marriage my wife insisted I have one for when I went abroad for work. Social media is the devil. I have Facebook and Instagram to promote my novels, but I have stayed the hell away from TwitTok.

6. In real life, sarcasm and pitch black humour. In writing, gothic mystery horror-thriller novels.

7. Neither. I'm not a pets person. I like animals (though I rather despair of the incessant manner in which people fawn over felines), but I don't want the responsibility of looking after them.

8. No. But I do drink tea.

9. Besides BBC English (my mother tongue), I can speak a little German. I can get by in American, though their spellings of words like "honour" do my head in.

10. Not with any great dexterity.