It's entirely possible to base an entire book on a long-forgotten letter.

Books have a vital place in our culture. They are the source of ideas, of stories that engage and stretch the imagination and most importantly, inspire.

In the industry, trying out new genres is not always encouraged but what I've discovered is that as a writer, a jaunt outside my comfort zone generally brings new skills to the main body of my work.

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.

It’s not until you’re older that you realise how important the things that happened to you when you were a kid are. Even things you only half remember.

If we don't value the people who inspire us (and money is one mark of that) then what kind of culture are we building?

Our business is communication oftentimes through the medium of stories but our capacity has a far greater scope - to entertain certainly, but also to stimulate debate, to mark up changes and differences and that way, to maybe, just now and then, to change the world.

Research material can turn up anywhere - in a dusty old letter in an archive, a journal or some old photographs you find in a charity shop.

Occasionally a particular word or phrase in a letter or diary has sparked an entire plot - like an echo from history, still very alive.