Award-winning children's author Philip Pullman has a date at the bottom of his garden every day which he keeps without fail.

Former teacher Mr Pullman, 55, a writer for 30 years, maintains a regular working rhythm, seeking inspiration for his full-time profession since the mid-1980s.

Every morning, between 9.30am and 10am, he disappears to a wooden shed at the bottom of the garden of his north Oxford home to write tales of mystical fantasy which have endeared him to a devoted following of child and adult readers.

His latest novel, The Amber Spyglass, achieved something not even JK Rowling's Harry Potter did, becoming the first children's book to win the £30,000 first prize in the Whitbread Book of the Year competition.

The movie rights have already been sold, guaranteeing him the status of a multi-millionaire in the near future.

National Theatre managers are also negotiating to buy the stage rights to his three novels written since 1995.

He says they should not to be classed as a trilogy -- they are all part of one long story in which the characters remain the same, and therefore one which has to be read all the way through.

His writing skills had already earned him a Carnegie Medal and The Guardian Award for Children's Fiction.

The Oxford University English graduate, who drifted into teaching in the 1970s, soon discovered his talent for story-telling and realised he could write just as well as some of the authors whose work he was using. Thanks to a part-time lecturer's position at Westminster College, Oxford, and the support of his wife, Jude, he was able to devote more time to his writing.

He took over the garden shed 15 years ago when his elder son, Jamie -- now 30 and a professional viola player -- began learning the violin. His other son, Tom, 20, is a languages student.

He said: "It wasn't that I was trying to get away from the awful noise he was making, because he didn't, and he is now a wonderful musician. It was because I didn't want the rhythm of his music affecting the rhythm of my writing."

That rhythm is all important to him, and his working schedule is simple. He remains at his desk until he has completed three sheets of lined A4 paper in handwritten ballpoint pen. It is a routine from which he never varies -- sometimes it may take him two hours, often all day.

His diligence results in about 1,100 words a day, and he gives short shrift to any suggestion that there may be days when perhaps the words won't come.

"If you do it steadily, you will write a book. We all have our own ways of working, and I rather think in terms of pages rather than numbers of words. When I've finished the third page, I know that's the job done for the day.

"It's like running a marathon -- not a sudden spurt. It's a steady accumulation of pages and you have to pace yourself. You need to be able to call upon all your reserves of patience and stamina.

"So-called writer's block is a very useful thing for amateurs, but on the other hand, so is inspiration.

"If you want inspiration to come to you, then the muse needs to know where you are. After all, if you're out shopping or down the pub and she finds you're not there, she may not come again!"

Mr Pullman admits his daily schedule has been somewhat interrupted by the events of the past few days since being told of his award.

"It's an extraordinary feeling and I'm absolutely thrilled," he said.

"I'm very honoured that they should choose me -- it's been a long time coming. I'm very glad if the success of this book, and those of Harry Potter, raise people's awareness of the wealth of reading in children's books."