I've taken a certain a pride in all of my books. They devour so much time and energy that you have to engage deeply or you'd go mad.

What drives me is a sense of urgency. We live in frightening times. Progress towards gender equality and vital battles to end discrimination on grounds such as race, age, sexuality and disability are stalling and in some places, reversing. This is happening because of the collapse of trust in nearly all public institutions, and in particular in politics and media, and the inescapable feeling that the current system isn't working for most people.

Studies show that women seeking power tend to be punished for doing so, because it goes against cultural bias. Women are expected to be likeable and pliant. We are also trained to expect any success we attain to come to us through men - by pleasing men, as good employees, good partners.

Take on jobs, projects and challenges that frighten you. It's the best way to get rid of fear.

It's not enough to vent about what you don't like on social media. I would ask everyone who can, men included, to get involved in an organisation actively working for gender equality.

One of the reasons I'm able to write books and still carry on with other work is that I do my best writing between 5am and midday.

Our male-dominated culture tends to define success in terms of wealth, fame, power, the reaction of others. Women are fed a version that includes personal fulfilment through marriage and motherhood in addition to professional acclaim and of course we must look sexy but not too sexy and then graciously disappear when we hit middle age.