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.

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

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.

Scotland just isn't terribly Tory.

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.

For a novelist, the gaps in a story are as intriguing as material that still exists.

Writers need each other.