In that exhausting lifestyle triumverate of the modern harried woman – work/family/social life – something has to give.  I just don’t believe you can have all three.  In my case it’s the social life that’s been sacrificed.  I just get too knackered.  Having kids has also made me much more disciplined.  I don’t spend their school hours unpacking the dishwasher and tidying the house – I write, solidly.  Am constantly gleaning little pockets of time to get it all done (in fact am typing this now, in the car, on the side of the road, having just dropped off my son to a basketball match.)

You write a lot about female sexuality. What draws you to write about it?

Honesty connects.  Nowhere more powerfully than in the sexual sphere.  There is so much vulnerability, bewilderment and misconception about sexuality, and it feels exhilarating (and necessary) to write about it utterly truthfully.

Lire included you in a list of the fifty most important writers in the world. How did that feel?

It’s a little tuning fork in my head – to try and live up to it!

You have written your first children’s book, The Kensington Reptilarium: what made you choose that genre?

Several of my own children who were too addicted to their wretched screens.  I wanted to write a kid’s book that would ignite the flame of reading passion in them, because I just couldn’t get it to catch alight (to my despair and mortification.)  Lo and behold, the Grand Scheme of Maximum Distraction actually worked.

Do you have a favourite book that you have written?

Shiver, my first novel – a story extremely close to my heart.  The Bride Stripped Bare – because it transformed my life.  And The Kensington Reptilarium – because it was such enormous, liberating fun.

What is your writing routine?

Get the kids, work solidly, then pick them up and give my life over to them.  My trick is to get household chores done around them – never in cherished writing time.

How do you come up with your ideas?

I’m constantly on the prowl with a notebook in my handbag – it records ideas, titles, quotes, conversation scraps, magazine articles.

Do you ever get writers block?

I used to but not anymore – writing is a business to me now, as well as a passion.  It pays bills, so I just have to plough on or my kids won’t be fed.  I literally can’t afford to be blocked anymore.

How long does it take you to write a book?

Usually a couple of years, but I’ve actually written one of them in three weeks (not saying which!)

Best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Write as if you’re dying – it’s a great motivator.  It stops you making that seventh cup of tea.