I spend a lot of my time looking at blue, The colour of my room and my mood.

My father was always playing the piano. He played all kinds of music - Gershwin, all kinds of stuff. He was really a hugely encouraging force to me when I was little.

It's not that I don't like American pop; I'm a huge admirer of it, but I think my roots came from a very English and Irish base. Is it all sort of totally non-American sounding.

I will say it is great to have a woman in charge of the country.

Everyone of us has a heaven inside.

Whatever is going on in your life when you're writing has to somehow seep into your work.

But I don't have a very good track record with royalty. My dress fell off in front of Prince Charles at the Prince's Trust, so I'm just living up to my reputation.