Journalism is a Darwinian process.

My upbringing was middle-class but my parents' families were both working-class so I had this odd combination of working-class background but in a privileged position.

I'm terrified to get married. I'm not getting married till my gay friends can.

Most of the people who write to me are really clever, really engaged. They just want to say that they have read my book and liked it.

In the 'Garnethill' trilogy, people always forget that Maureen O'Donnell's dad was a journalist and she did art history at uni and her brother did law, but no-one ever thinks they're middle-class - they're just working class because they speak with accents.

I grew up in London under Thatcher and that really was disgusting. A feeding frenzy.

Even if people do wrong, we're social animals, so what can we do about stopping them doing the same things in future? Saying people are 'bad' or 'evil' is just an unwillingness to engage; an unwillingness to try to empathise. That sanctimonious attitude doesn't help anyone