As an historical novelist - there are few jobs more retrospective.

People make interesting assumptions about the profession. The writer is a mysterious figure, wandering lonely as a cloud, fired by inspiration, or perhaps a cocktail or two.

We can learn so much looking outside our core field of expertise.

Very often the characters people respond to best have little parts of reality they can relate to.

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

My father could talk about the Romany way of life and its culture. He could talk about freedom and the Scottish spirit. But that was all he could talk about. I was desperate for someone to talk to but there was just nobody there.

Writers are a product of where we come from but by looking at alternatives to the culture in which we live, we can find ways to change and hopefully improve it.