Winning an award is a great feeling but winning the Vodafone Crossword Popular Choice Award is particularly exhilarating because it is based upon public voting. I find it a strange quirk of fate that Chanakya's Chant, a political tale, should end up winning an election!

What I have found is that, in a family business structure, sometimes what is needed is a sense of discipline rather than creativity. You have to take everyones ideas and make it work. When you are dealing with money, there is a limitation on how creative you can be.

What is divine? It is simply that which man has not been able to understand. Once you do, it loses its divinity.

After writing each novel, I would spend days poring over suggestions from my editor.

I was passionate about reading from an early age, and I would always be carrying a different book each week.

I want to make sure that my writing grips the reader from the word 'go.'

What I would not like is to be ignored. I write from the heart. I don't write for me. I write for my readers.