Hi Malorie, when I heard you were going to be the next author in the Doctor Who series I was overjoyed. I've loved your work and read it since I was small – Boys Don't Cry is one of all-time favourite books. What makes your work so unique is that you write about serious issues that teens/adults/ face daily, and you get to the core of these problems and really address the topic head on. I was overjoyed when I heard you were doing a Doctor Who story and when I read The Ripple Effect, I loved it. A fantastic job on a fantastic Doctor – thank you for writing it.
Patrick, thanks for your kind words above. I'm really glad you enjoyed my Doctor Who story. I hope others who read it agree with you!

Onto the questions:
1. What drew you to Sylvester McCoy's incarnation? Was there a particular trait or aspect of his personality that led you to write for him?

I think that Sylvester McCoy's Doctor was the first one that had a certain Machiavellian streak. Up until then, it seemed like the Doctor was a nice guy – sometimes a bit curmudgeonly - travelling about being a Good Samaritan. The Seventh Doctor was more like a chess master, playing a long game, strategising, and quite prepared to be devious and not fully informing all the pawns of his intentions in order to win the game. McCoy's Doctor always struck me as a master manipulator.
2. Doctor Who frequently features many different planets and sometimes goes back to the same ones, in this case: Skaro. Why did you choose to feature the Daleks' homeworld in The Ripple Effect?

While I was trying to come up with the idea for my Doctor Who story, I found myself recalling my Classical Civilisation lessons from school. An image of the Daleks as the Ancient Greeks came into my mind, with other races beating a path to their door to study and learn. So it didn't make sense to set the story about civilised philosopher Daleks anywhere other than Skaro.
3. How much research did you do for The Ripple Effect? Did you find any stories that you took inspiration from? What's your favourite story from the McCoy era?

I refreshed my memory by watching the McCoy episodes and by browsing the various Whovian databases on the web. I did my homework on Ace and the Daleks and I also had quite a few surreal discussions with my husband and my daughter. They're both Doctor Who fans too!

Maybe some of the inspiration for my story came from episodes like Dalek where Rose's DNA gave a Dalek a bit of an identity crisis, and the stories that involved the Cult of Skaro – where we saw that Daleks could have different personalities – and maybe even go mad! I also loved the line in the Dalek episode where the Doctor is told that he'd have made a great Dalek. Brilliant!
4. When did you start watching the show? And who was "your Doctor"?

My first Doctor was Jon Pertwee. It was from his era that I settled into watching Doctor Who regularly.
5. If you had a TARDIS, where would you travel to and what would you do when you got there?

I'd love to go back to the past and see how things really were. What was life really like in 8th century BC Ethiopia? What was Antarctica like when it teemed with life? Who really shot JFK and Martin Luther King? Were Tyrannosaurus Rexes really feathery? I'd also like to go forward in time, and see how long it takes us humans to get our act together and stop all the wars and conflicts we currently have amongst ourselves. I'd have to be ultra careful not to change anything in the past though! I've watched and read enough sci-fi to know that when non-Time Lords change things, it generally messes up the Universe in horrible ways!
6. What was your favourite novel when you were young?

The Silver Chair by CS Lewis.
7. Is there any piece of advice you could give to young, aspiring writers?

Read! Read lots of different genres, authors and types of books. And write! Try to write regularly. Keeping a diary is a good way to start. Also, cultivate nosiness – but discreetly! You get an ear for dialogue by earwigging other people on buses and trains. Make mental notes on other people's speech patterns and mannerisms. And most of all – don't give up.
8. Where is the weirdest place you've been to? What did you do there?

Apparently, my home is pretty weird! Not to me of course – but there are some bits and pieces that give the visitors pause. I work in my attic with a full-sized skeleton behind me. (Her name is Sarah). The weirdest place I've actually visited is probably a certain Scottish country pub that shall remain nameless. My hubby and I stopped off there because it was a very hot afternoon and we were thirsty. Once our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we saw it was a cross between the Bates Motel and one of those Hammer-Horror-suspicious-natives-stay-away-from-the-moor places. We drank up and legged it before we got chased by Lycans or imprisoned in a Wicker Man or something.
9. If you had to travel with one companion from Doctor Who, who would you choose?

I loved Ace and Martha, so either of those two would be fine with me.

10. And lastly, who would like to play the Twelfth Doctor?

Oh, that's a tough one! I love the idea of a black Doctor, or a female Doctor, so a black, female Doctor would be ideal! But I'll be happy with any great actor that brings continued life to a fantastic character. And if that great actor could be someone like Idris Elba, I'd be very, very happy.