I've been a fan ever since childhood, when I enjoyed being scared by the monsters.

The fourth Doctor - as played by Tom Baker - was my childhood hero. He's still my favourite.

As I grew up, I became a typical obsessive teenage Doctor Who enthusiast (the popular term is 'fanboy').

I began buying Doctor Who Weekly and the Target books.

Tom Baker's Doctor is still Nick's favourite

I also started compiling lists - the fanboy rite of passage - and writing my own Doctor Who adventures.

Little did I know it then but my teenage literary enthusiasm would eventually bear fruit.

My first Doctor Who novel Dominion was published in 1999 and since then I've barely broken stride.

The Fall of Yquatine came out in 2000, Superior Beings in 2001 and now Reckless Engineering in 2003.

Bristol and Brunel

It's always been was my intention to write a story set in Bristol.

Not just because it's the town in which I happen to live, but because it has got a fascinating and colourful history.

I decided to include as many famous Bristol locations in Reckless Engineering as reasonably possible.

I managed to fit in the Suspension Bridge, Queen Square, Ashton Court and its Mansion House, the Floating Harbour, the Downs and the ss Great Britain.

It's not named in the book but the Llandoger Trow is also in there. The King Street pub has a previous literary claim to fame - Robert Louis Stevenson stayed there to imbibe atmosphere for Treasure Island.

And then there's of course, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the greatest Briton (whatever the polls say).

I realised that he would be the perfect foil for the Doctor.

And so a story in which the Doctor teams up with Brunel to save the world (or as it turned out, reality itself) seemed to me a fun idea that would make a great story.

> Start reading Nick's Doctor Who guide