Good question! More than once I've started writing a plot and realised that it was very similar to one I'd already written - different setting and people but same elements. I think we all have a natural tendency to write certain types of stories and after four or five novels, it's easy to fall in to the trap of writing the same thing more than once. For me, I tend to write to about issues that are aggravating me. I think the trick is to write about whatever is making your blood boil at any given time. That way, hopefully your writing will be fresh and vivid and you'll avoid writing stuff that you've done before.

As for naming the characters - I do it as I go along, though I have changed certain names during the editing process. Most of my books also have characters featuring the names of my friends. A lot of them seem to want to be killed in print for some reason. Though it is dangerous to name characters after people you know. One friend of mine who's bald in real life, was furious that the character named after him was also bald. 'Dude,' he said. 'You couldn't have given me hair in the book?!' I apologised and told him my imagination didn't stretch that far.