If you take real-life circumstances and take out all the pauses then you have a thriller. It has to be non-stop, high stakes and fascinating all the time. Real life is like that from time to time.

Each day is a surprise - and each day I learn something wonderful and new. Both in writing thrillers and in reporting the news, I work to change the world a little bit. I want readers - and viewers - to be surprised and captivated and even inspired.

In crime fiction, I just don't write the parts that aren't a thriller and it's exactly the same in my TV reporting - I distill the essence of the story until it's only the jewels of the tale - and leave in only the most compelling and exciting parts.

If you take real-life circumstances and take out all the pauses then you have a thriller. It has to be non-stop, high stakes and fascinating all the time. Real life is like that from time to time.

My workday is non-stop break-neck high stakes and high pressure. Every day.

At the core of investigative journalism is exactly the same thing that drives a page-turning thriller: telling a great story.