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The Dare
1. As a child, I nearly drowned twice. The first time, I swam too far from the shore and wasn’t a strong enough swimmer to make it back against the tide. My parents were frantically searching the beach, but eventually I managed to climb onto a groyne and walk back to safety. The second time, I was on a cruise holiday with my friend and her parents on the SS Canberra (which went on to serve as a troopship in the Falklands War). Rather stupidly, I went up on deck, alone, during a storm as we were crossing the Bay of Biscay, famous for its rough seas. I wanted to look at the waves, but was almost blown into them.
2. I used to play the piano and got as far as Grade 7, but I hated having lessons and being made to practise, and the exams were very stressful. I gave up when I was a teenager and now I can’t play a single tune. This experience taught me never to force my own children to pursue hobbies they weren’t passionate about. It’s far better to encourage them in the things they do love.
3. I once went out with two men from the same cricket team – at different times, of course! I decided not to date any more cricketers when I realised it often meant having to make sandwiches in the pavilion.
4. Like many writers, I’ve had a variety of jobs: waitress, sales assistant, cleaner, canteen assistant, nurse, secretary, cable TV customer services clerk and then, after going to university as a mature student, I became a teacher. But I always wanted to be a writer and now I’m fortunate enough to be a full-time author. It’s definitely the best job I’ve ever had.
5. I was in a taxi en route to the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, when I got a call telling me I was a runner-up in the Daily Mail/Penguin Random House First Crime Novel Competition. This led to me getting an agent and securing my first ever publication deal. It was my most memorable and exciting holiday.
6. When I write, I read each and every sentence aloud. When I’ve written two or three paragraphs, I often read the entire chapter from the beginning before continuing, because I like to hear how it sounds. I’ve never been a fan of the messy first draft. It’s a good job I write short chapters though. It’s also one of the main reasons I prefer to work alone, shut away in my study.
7. When I met my husband, we discovered that we had worked in the same hospital at the same time, and occasionally on the same ward. That was seventeen years before we actually met. We also discovered that we had once lived in the same block of streets in East Dulwich, so I guess you could say we were destined to be together.