I really think more fledgling novelists - and many current and even established novelists - should get out into the real world and cover local politics, sports, culture, and crime and write it up on deadline.

As a reader, I'm often put off by authors and story-lines without families or children and all of the angst and joy they bring with them.

I do like the research part of writing, I must admit.

I really think more fledgling novelists - and many current and even established novelists - should get out into the real world and cover local politics, sports, culture, and crime and write it up on deadline.