Change occurs slowly. Very often a legal change might take place but the cultural shift required to really accept its spirit lingers in the wings for decades.

I believe the era of the militant lady is back.

The new contract between writers and readers is one I'm prepared to sign up to. I've met some fascinating people at events and online. Down with the isolation of writers I say! And long live Twitter.

For me, writing stories set, well, wherever they're best set, is a form of cultural curiosity that is uniquely Scottish - we're famous for travelling in search of adventure.

While I'm frustrated at the amount I'm expected to take on in the present, the 1950s woman was frustrated by being excluded - not being allowed to take things on at all.

I'm not sure how much easier it is for a mother to balance her life now - have we simply swapped one set of restrictions for another?

Research material can turn up anywhere - in a dusty old letter in an archive, a journal or some old photographs you find in a charity shop.