I always thought 'chick lit' meant third-person contemporary funny novels, dealing with issues of the day. I mean, it's not the ideal term; when I'm asked to describe what I do, I say I write romantic comedies, cause that's what I feel they are. But I'm quite pragmatic.

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.

You don't always have to know who you are. Sometimes, it's enough just to know what to do next.

It's a GIRL. It's a little girl, with scrunched-up petal lips and a tuft of dark hair and hands in tiny fits, up by her ears. All that time, that's who was in there. And it's weird, but the minute I saw her I just thought: IT'S YOU. Of course it is.

If I behave as though this is a completely normal situation, then maybe it will be.

There's nothing like your mother's sympathetic voice to make you want to burst into tears.

I love new clothes. If everyone could just wear new clothes everyday, I reckon depression wouldn’t exist anymore.