I suppose the short chapters and differing narrative points of view are quite "cinematic" devices, which came very naturally to me.

I definitely do feel a pull toward people and places that are far from my own life.

Initially I only decided to try and write a novel because I wasn't getting enough screenwriting work. It wasn't a long-held ambition, and certainly the idea came first.

I love research, and in fact it's liberating because you have to create your own world. No one can say "I've just got back from the 1860s, and you got it wrong." Anyway, it's fiction.

I despise this weakness in myself - this endless one-sided conversation that takes the place of action.

I don't use real people for inspiration.

Because I work quite slowly, I have to keep myself interested over a long research and writing period. So I can't see myself writing about modern middle-class Londoners anytime soon.