'The disaster of Mum's dementia was aggravated by the death of a beloved dog, and a love affair that soured. Being placed as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow was a joy.'

The disaster of Mum's dementia was aggravated by the death of a beloved dog, and a love affair that soured. Being placed as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow was a joy, but overall, there was simply too much going wrong.

'Get cracking on the mechanics, with discovering what writing can do. Life itself will take care of your subject.'

I would advise my younger self to get cracking on the mechanics, with discovering what writing can do. Life itself — I would tell her — will take care of your subject, what matters are the tools of your trade.

'Not that we writers have all the answers, but I believe we have a responsibility to ask some of the questions.'

Not that we writers have all the answers, but I believe we have a responsibility to ask some of the questions; a duty to enable and encourage the reader to reflect, and to consider the personal, social and political framework within which they operate.

'I'm British West Indian, and so much of what I was writing about had rarely been published or produced at that time. or produced.'

It was particularly difficult for me to get published, as I was writing about the world around me. I'm British West Indian, and so much of what I was writing about had rarely been published or produced at that time in Britain.

'You'd be affronted if you knew that a fifty-two year old woman was reading what you'd written, and you'd be amazed to know that that woman was a published writer.'

You'd be affronted if you knew that a fifty-two year old woman was reading what you'd written, and you'd be amazed to know that that woman was a published writer with more than a passing association with you.

'I will live at your place in a vacuum of expectation. The one important thing your place should not contain, is you, '

Neither will your choice of tea nor the type of milk you drink, nor the To-Do list chalked on the door, trigger in me any thoughts. I will live at your place in a vacuum of expectation. The one important thing your place should not contain, is you,

'I viewed myself as split in two, and yet this duality became my career, as I started translating German plays for British theatre.'

I viewed myself as split in two, and yet this duality became my career, as I started translating German plays for British theatre not long after the Berlin wall came down. Here, being the outsider gave me untold advantages.

'One of the most startlingly inept sequences in thrillerdom's history — Richard Hannay is on the run in Scotland and takes refuge in an isolated house, which turns out to be the baddies' HQ. '

My personal favourite — one of the most startlingly inept sequences in thrillerdom's history — when Richard Hannay is on the run in Scotland and he takes refuge in an isolated house, which turns out to be the baddies' HQ.

'Niall Griffiths' advice was to turn it all around. He burst open the hole I'd dug for myself; suddenly, magically, there was light. '

Niall Griffiths' advice was to turn it all around. He burst open the hole I'd dug for myself; suddenly, magically, there was light. Or there was once I'd got back home after having stopped to vomit in almost every lay-by on the length of the A470...

'The first thirty percent of the story usually takes up about seventy percent of the time I will spend on the first draft in total. '

The first thirty percent of the story usually takes up about seventy percent of the time I will spend on the first draft in total. Once I hit the middle of the story, things begin to take on their own life. The last seventy percent is like coasting downhill.