Where and when were you born?
I was born in Worcester in 1976. So I turned 30 this year (as did Andersen Press, who publish my books).

What were you like as a child? Did you enjoy writing? How important was religion to you?
I've always enjoyed writing. I made my first picture book when I was four - a strange concoction involving a giraffe and a mouse. When I was about nine I wrote a long spy story; I remember agonising over the choreography of a climactic fight sequence which took place on the sails of a windmill. I drew cartoon strips, too: one series was a 'Roadrunner' imitation (a dingo's hapless pursuit of a wallaby) and another was about a war between green and black aphids. All of it pretty dire, when I look at it now.

I grew up in a Christian family. The Christian story only really began to make sense to me when I was about twelve, but when it did I was captivated. God became even more important to me than the dingos, spies, aphids etc that occupied my imaginative space. I told God that my life was his from now on, and I have only very occasionally regretted that.

Where were you educated? What is your most vivid memory of school?
I went to school at Plymouth College. My most vivid memory is the day I entered an 'underwater chess' competition for Telethon. There was a giant magnetic chess-board on the bottom of the school swimming pool and when the cameras started rolling I couldn't get down to it. I spent a while floundering hopelessly on the surface and then gave up. I've been rather wary of publicity ever since.

How did you get into writing?
When I was in my mid-twenties I attended some creative writing classes with the wonderful Christian writer Elizabeth Goldsmith. It was she who encouraged me to take writing seriously. When I got to Africa I wrote some travel pieces for publications back home, and in 2003 I won Africa Geographic's Travel Writer of the Year award. That gave me confidence to start writing for children.

What made you decide to become a missionary?
The word missionary is so loaded, isn't it? It drags with it all that unwelcome baggage of crusaders and colonialists and boiled-in-a-cauldron clichés. I haven't found an alternative word yet, though!

In my teenage years I experienced a strong sense of Jesus's calling to go to places where the gospel story has never been told, and to tell it. Studying theology at university didn't quench that enthusiasm, and here I am.

Being a missionary (and for that matter, being a Christian) is not about being a do-gooder. It's about adventure and self-sacrifice and being caught up in a meta-narrative, a story that's bigger than you are. Whatever continent you're on, it's a privilege to be able to share with people stories like the ones in Luke 15: the image of God as Running Father, sprinting down the road to embrace a returning child - now there's an image worth getting on a plane for!

Is Christianity the traditional religion of the people of Burkina Faso?
There are dozens of different ethnic groups in Burkina Faso. I live among a tribe called the Fulani, who are semi-nomadic cattle herders on the edge of the Sahara desert. The Fulani are 99% Muslim. I try to communicate the Jesus-story with humility and respect, and in ways that are relevant to Fulani culture. In John 10, Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd, so I change that to the Good Cattle-herder. The concept of a good herder - a man willing to give up his life for his cows - is extremely meaningful to my friends and neighbours here.

Do you ride camels?
I have ridden a few camels but I do not own one. And I have never plucked up the courage to gallop - the camel race sequence in 'Sophie and the Locust Curse' owes more to the children's TV program 'Wacky Races' than it does to personal experience.

Personal experience does play a large part in my writing, though. Living in West Africa means encountering camel herders, musicians, marabouts, magicians, corrupt policemen and wandering storytellers. I am never at a loss for characters to populate my books!

What gave you the idea of writing about an albino camel?
I like camels. I like their smirks and their eyelashes and their stretchy necks and their many-kneed efficiency. I think most eight-year olds agree that camels rank pretty high on the cool-animals scale. I made Chobbal an albino to give him something in common with Sophie. Sophie's whiteness makes it hard for her to integrate in the Fulani village; Chobbal's whiteness caused him to be rejected by his mother. The girl and the camel form a strong bond.

Do you read your stories to local children? If so, what kind of feedback do you get?
That's a good idea. I've never done that. I've tried them on Aesop's fables, though, and some of those translate quite well across the cultural divide, especially the goose (translate 'hen') that laid the golden eggs - the Fulani think that greed is shameful but also hilarious.

Do they tell you stories?
I sometimes invite children from my neighbourhood to come round for doughnuts and storytelling. The first time we did this, they told me five folk stories: the story of the hyena and the marabout, the story of the blacksmith's testicles, the story of the mother-in-law and the milkcow, the story of Narrowmouth, Skinnylegs and Barrelbelly, and the story of God and the baobab tree. The last of these ended up making a cameo appearance in Sophie and the Albino Camel. I am not yet sure what to do with the others!

Having had quite a success with your first children's book, what advice would you give to aspiring children's authors?
Chant the mantra of William Strunk (the Elements of Style, 3rd edition 1995): Omit needless words.
Visit www.achuka.co.uk/achockablog/ at least once a week to keep in touch with the world of children's lit.
Reread books you enjoyed as a child and you will remember what it was about them that you used to find particularly funny or enthralling. Use this knowledge in your own writing.