I think everyone can recognize the one-upmanship and the competition that go on wherever you are, especially among groups where the women don't have to hold down office jobs and instead get in a total snit about who won the longest carrot contest or took first prize for summer chutney in the August fete.

The Lady' is a piddling little magazine that no one cares about or buys.

Don't worry about never having time to write. Just write what you can in the time you do have and give yourself a big clap on the back, followed by a double latte and a blueberry muffin.

Of course I'm naughty. I've always had to compete for attention, you see.

I love writing journalism because it's all over in two hours and comes straight off the top of the head. Writing novels is soooooo much harder. It's the hardest thing I've ever done.

I want 'The Lady' magazine to be restored to its traditional place in the pantheon of weekly magazines.

Being boring is just wrong, isn't it? You wouldn't have got anywhere being boring.