TERRY Pratchett, best selling fantasy author, is perfectly down to earth and grows his own vegetables to prove it.

Besides selling millions of books about wizards, sorcery and all things surreal across the world, he also has a more unusual claim to fame.

"Last year I grew a carrot weighing 3lbs. It was huge and made brilliant soup," Terry said.

Although most famous for his 26 Discworld novels, Terry's wacky imagination has been in print ever since he was 13.

But instead of boasting his impressive literary achievements, Terry seemed prouder of his vegetable patch creations.

Bursting with pride, he said: "We had very good parsnips too. It runs in the family my grandfather used to be a professional gardener."

While he started telling me about his latest exploits with green peppers, I steered the subject back his first love for writing.

Quibbling with the word "love," he said writing is just something he has always done.

"It's like wearing trousers. I can't imagine not doing it," he explained.

Despite having his first novel, The Carpet People, published when he was 20, Terry also had "proper" jobs.

As a journalist, he wrote for the Western Daily Press and the Bath Chronicle. No stranger to the world of public relations, he was once even a nuclear power press officer.

Such experiences doubtless proved useful for his future novel, The Truth, which is about the birth of newspapers.

Betraying his sub-editor skills, Terry cannot resist correcting himself from saying "less than" to "fewer than."

And far from retiring to the greenhouse, another one of his passions, Terry, now 54, is determined to keep typing until the day he dies.

Indeed he still aims to write 24 hours a day. Anything below the 400-word mark is considered as "skiving."

He said: "I don't intend to stop. I've heard about relaxing, but don't feel comfortable without a small computer within reach."

He has even worked out that when he falls forward onto the keyboard, his head will land on the letter T.

"So my last book will be a lot of Ts," he added.

Speaking of tea, Terry dismissed rumours about his strict refreshment requirements.

"Organisers heard about me eating kumquats at a previous event and thought I had demanded them. The truth is, I'm grateful for a cup of tea," he said.

Such misunderstandings may not arise in the future, because Terry intends to give up the promotional tours and talks.

After signing tours in Vancouver, New Zealand and Australia, he said you start to lose your mind.

Shunning the jet set lifestyle, Terry is happier at his Wiltshire home, which he shares with his wife, Lyn, and their four cats Garfield, Tiger, Patch and Genghis.

Comparable to his fictional characters, these cats also have play names like Mr Pooh, Tub Tub and Pyjama Man.

Just as Terry favours Patch, the office cat, he also has a soft spot for certain female characters.

"Granny Weatherwax and Susan are great fun because they have depth," he said.

Terry is so attached to his characters, he can't bring himself to kill them off.

"I wouldn't know who to replace them with," he added.

So it seems Rincewind, the incompetent wizard, is safe for some time yet.

Terry insists he has a quiet social life and claims to be rather dull.

He said: "I'm full of hidden shallows. I don't go out much, so retaining my privacy isn't a problem."