Often we don't notice the stringent rules to which our culture subjects us.

I believe the era of the militant lady is back.

I had loved poetry and the theatre. Now I loved adventure more.

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.

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.

Copywriters, journalists, mainstream authors, ghostwriters, bloggers and advertising creatives have as much right to think of themselves as good writers as academics, poets, or literary novelists.

It is through our extended family that we first learn to compromise and come to an understanding that even if we don't always agree about things we can still love and look out for each other.