Today the winners of the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2016 were announced. Blood Dragons was on the list of Finalists.

It was a blinding surprise to discover Blood Dragons had won the Silver Award.

To celebrate I wanted to explain why it’s such an important novel to me.

The spark of inspiration for the entire series came from my son who is an autistic savant: everything he sees he remembers.

Light – the lead character – is a savant. I wondered what it would be like for a vampire to live over the centuries and to remember all the wonders and horrors with the clarity of a photograph. Would  it be a blessing – or a curse..?

The theme of memory is at its core: identity. As well as what it means to be an individual: the book is for everyone who has ever felt different or alone.

And that? Is everyone on the planet…

Blood Dragons is set in a divided, paranormal London. My dad’s a Londoner, and I wanted my first series to show the ‘dark and glory‘ of London.

I love complex anti-heroes, struggling on thrilling redemptive journeys: cue Light. British male vampires played the role of villain, love interest or sidekick; my British vampire would be the anti-hero telling his own story, in his own words.

Dark, intelligent and subversive. These are the books I love to read and the series I set out to write.

Blood Dragons is close to my heart for so many reasons: it’s an intensely personal novel.

Why is it important to you?