You know what Hans told me last week?" she says as I open the door of my fitting room. "He told me to write down a list of everything I wanted to say about that women-and then tear it up. He said I'd feel a sense of freedom." "Oh right," I say interestedly. "So what happened?" "I wrote it all down," says Laurel. "And then I mailed it to her!

I had gone to Oxford to read music. I had done music all my life, but when I got to college I didn't want to do it anymore.

Rule of life. If you bother to ask someone’s advice, then bother to listen to it.

The way I write is totally instinctive. I just write what I feel or what I find funny - and hope everyone else agrees.

The great thing about being a novelist is that you organize your own day.

My real name is Madeleine Wickham, under which I write dramas with an edge of humour. As Sophie Kinsella its fast, all-out comedies, such as the Shopaholic series.

People used to ask me for advice, and I'd say, 'Please, don't ask me!' Yes, I did economics at Oxford, but that's not the same as having a broad knowledge of personal finance