Mighty real

Minding our own business, sometimes to the point of apparent indifference to our fellow human beings, is a character trait that is supposed to be particularly British.

When we write fiction, however, we need to forget all about minding our own business. A novel is a positive invitation to become involved in other people’s lives: to learn their deepest, darkest secrets and get to know them as well as we know ourselves.

While I’m writing a novel, I spend so much time with these children of my imagination that I always have at least some inkling