People always want to identify a writer with their protagonist.

I get really excited if I think I'm going to introduce somebody to a writer they haven't found before and I think they'll love. My favorite books to get as gifts are any that the giver is messianic about.

I'm very eclectic in my music tastes - anything from Nina Simone to Beethoven to Talvin Singh.

I guess there's a sort of cycle with writing books. There's all the researching and then the imagining and writing - which is the real job - and then there's always a period when the book comes out and you have to lift your head and venture out.

I wish I got a lie-in on Saturday mornings but I never do.

I rarely get a moment to myself, but I love the way that my agenda is dictated by the children, not my work.

Writing is a deeply immersive experience. When the words are flying, the house could be burgled and I wouldn’t notice. I have a low boredom threshold and I like intensity – writing is a way of escaping the quotidian.