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Each week we're introducing one of the five brilliant authors shortlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition. Up this week is Jamie Smith, author of Frostsliver – the story of one girl’s extraordinary survival when caught in a mountainside avalanche atop a sentient glacier.

Jamie Smith (28) is a writer of fantasy and science fiction novels for any ages willing to read them. Between working as a retail software developer near Stafford and occasionally designing videogames, he has written six books and is working on a seventh. His children’s fantasy Scaled was a Runner Up for the Bloomsbury/National Literacy Trust New Children’s Author Prize 2015.

How does it feel to be shortlisted?

Mostly, it's impatience – can't wait until we get to June and find out the result! That said, even though I've been in this position before, there's still an undercurrent of excitement.

What inspired you to enter the competition?

Chicken House runs the most well-known children's book competition around, and clearly love what they do. To me that represents the best chance to cut through the red tape of getting an agent, editor and so on, right to the real meat of getting your book read by people that want to.

What’s your top writing tip?

The best thing you can do is to keep writing. Most people don't get their first books published, or their second. I think that those that keep trying and improving are often the ones that make it in the end.

Follow Jamie on Twitter: @JamieHBSmith