Sometimes I create a character from a scrap - a mere mention that has been left behind.

A book is a story, even if it's non-fiction, and once I've read it, I have the story with me inside my head always.

Like most little girls, I found the lure of grown-up accessories astonishing - lipstick, perfume, hats and gloves. When I write female characters in my historical novels, getting these details right is vital.

I find it inspiring to actively choose which traditions to celebrate and also come up with new ideas for traditions of my own.

At length, when I considered it, I realized that the best of my actions were small things. Picking flowers and cooking food for my mother when she had been unwell, spending an afternoon with the children, sending money to my sister or kissing Henry's tiny head as he slept in the nursery before I left. I thought of every detail and afterwards I felt better. Hellfire and brimstone have never appealed to me and I admit I become easily confused thinking of right and wrong. But I do understand kindness.

Scotland just isn't terribly Tory.

Writing about the 1950s has given me tremendous respect for my mother's generation.