One of my old friends texted me a couple of weeks ago to say that TVNZ had just released the old TV series of Under the Mountain on DVD. When I was a kid in Invercargill, Under the Mountain was one of my favourite books and when the TV show came out I was stoked. Even though I lived at the other end of the country and had never been to Auckland, I remember loving seeing a New Zealand story on telly. I could never have imagined then that in a few years (OK, quite a few years…) I’d be living within walking distance of what seemed like one of the most dangerous and brooding places in the country – Lake Pupuke.

You might laugh and try to tell me that Lake Pupuke is but one of many scenic spots in Auckland that I ought to get out and enjoy. And I have to agree as the logical adult part of my brain knows that the lake is a lovely place to have a stroll, that many people safely indulge in sailing and canoeing there and, if you’re lucky, you might even catch fish there. But thanks to Maurice Gee there will always be that little part of me that knows somewhere around Lake Pupuke lurk the Wilberforces and, if I know what’s good for me, I should stay out of their way!

I can’t think of any other book from my childhood that has had such an effect on me. I used to love Mona Anderson’s stories but have never worried unduly about flooding rivers or grumpy stock horses. My well documented dislike of porridge was, I’m fairly sure, not caused by multiple readings of Sweet Porridge as a kid. And the myriad adventures of Doctor Duffer certainly never put me off international travel – I might be much wealthier if it had! There was just something about Under the Mountain that was so real to me as a kid that it’s never gone away.

There’s always been several copies of the book in my possession. It’s one that I lend to people when they visit Auckland. In part, so they can learn something about the volcanic zone that the city sits in. But if I’m really honest, I think I like people to read it so they get some idea of one of the greatest early influences on how I see the city I now live in. Oh, and so that they get a bit scared of the Wilberforces too and don’t make me take them to Lake Pupuke!

A new production of Under the Mountain is taking place down by the lake and a new generation of Kiwi kids are going to be exposed to what has to be one of the best New Zealand books for children ever written. I hope that the story has the same effect on them as it did on me all those years ago.

And as for the unwrapped DVD sitting next to my television? I’m waiting for my friend to come up from Invercargill before I watch it – after all, I don’t want to get caught on my own by the Wilberforces!

My friends and family will vouch for the fact that when I’m in the middle of writing a book I go a little bit, well, mad. I get so absorbed in whatever it is that I’m writing that I find it almost impossible to think about anything else.

When I was working on my Whykickamoocow books about Kiwi place names, people avoided talking to me about anything even vaguely geographic so they didn’t send me off in a spin trying to find out the origin of the name of a hill/street/suburb/town…

A similar thing happened while working on my new book, Made in New Zealand, which tells the tales behind some of this country’s favourite brands. I’ve never been much of a fan of the supermarket but while working on this book a trip to buy toothpaste could cause total overload! Or I’d be watching telly and the ads would come on. I’d sit there spouting random facts about whatever product was being spruiked at the time, regardless of the fact that whoever I was watching tv with probably wasn’t interested in the ad, let alone a potted history of the products’ makers!

I tend to gather all my research and percolate it for a while before I start writing. It’s when the writing starts that reality and I start to part ways. This total absorption in whatever I’m writing about has led me to refuse to answer the phone for days on end, answer the door only to quickly close it on my unsuspecting visitors then scuttle back to my desk and to leave the house only when absolutely necessary – usually when I’d run out of toothpaste! (I’m eternally grateful to be surrounded by patient and tolerant people while being a bit scared of what might happen if I ever decide to write a novel!)

I’ve never been able to explain to people why I do what I do – I’d just say that I feel a bit lost when I’m not working on a book project. Then I came across this quote from Nadeem Aslam, who spent 11 years writing Maps for Lost Lovers. I think it beautifully sums up why a lot of writers do what they do: “People say that they like it and it's good. My writing is so much a part of who I am that it’s like being praised for having a hand or for having blood. Does that make sense?”

Yep, Nadeem, amidst all the bafflement that writing causes me sometimes, that makes perfect sense!