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I get quite a few people who’ve read the book asking about this, and I’ve realised it’s quite a Marmite-y aspect of the story: you either love the ambiguity, or hate it. So for those who would like to know, the short answer is that the book is pretty much set in the 1970s, but because it’s a very remote town it feels like the 1950s. In other words, it’s borrowed from my childhood on the Isle of Wight. Growing up in Cowes, you often felt that nothing had changed for hundreds of years. We didn’t have high-street chain stores, everything was independently owned. There was still half-day closing. Tall ships (like the Storm) still came to visit, and when they did, it would be something that people talked about in the high street: a bit of an event.

I think one of the things that kick-started Verity, was the fact that my husband and I moved to this remote part of Suffolk. You can see from this picture of nearby Walberswick that we are still very ‘lost in time’ around here and it reminded me of my childhood. I think also, moving to a new area and having to make friends and start over again, felt a little bit like being back at school: it reminded me of your first day at term, when you’re stood in the hallway with your timetable and you don’t have a clue where to go, and everyone else looks filled with confidence.

Wellow is a combination of a town called Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, and Southwold in Suffolk which is where I live now. Tempest Bay and Soul Bay are approximations of the coast that runs from St Catherine’s Point on the Island, to the Needles. I grew up on the Isle of Wight, in Cowes, and from the very first time I saw the south coast of the Island I fell in love with it. As soon as I learnt how to drive I would go there at every opportunity with friends, or alone. Rain or shine I have always found it breathtaking. My friend and I even went there on Boxing Day once when the weather was so bad we couldn’t get out of the car. It still looked beautiful though.

I do now: I have a room above the garage of our house that I use as an office and I tend to go there to when I’m at home. You can see my desk here. Unfortunately I can’t seem to take a shot that shows the view, which is lovely. So you’ll just have to take my word for it.

But for years there was no possibility of a writing ‘routine’. I couldn’t be fussy about getting peace and quiet, or a particular ‘atmosphere’. Prior to German publisher Oetinger buying the German language right to Mistress, I funded my writing by working four days a week for an digital advertising agency. ‘Agency life’ (as it’s known) is frantic; think 12 hour days, cancelled holidays, phone calls at the weekend, the lot. But it paid well enough for me to only do those four days, and on the fifth I wrote. It was the devil’s pact I made to get a novel finished. So time was my scarcest commodity, and when I found some I just had to get on and write: in the past I’ve been known to snatch writing opportunities on ferries, in cars, even a teacher’s staffroom once …any place where I had room to open a laptop.

These days (for the minute) things are a bit different. But basically, when I’m writing I start at 9am and finish at 5pm. I haven’t managed to break the habit of eating lunch at my desktop, but perhaps that’s because it’s the winter and there are so many fascinating articles about Charlie Sheen to read these days. I saw today that fellow author Stephanie Burgis (who seems lovely on Twitter) always writes wearing a tiara. I like her style, but I don’t have a tiara. I’m wondering if my sons’ fireman’s helmet will do instead?

Oh dear, now it comes out! I can sail, but haven’t for a long time. But it’s in the book because I loved it so much. I particularly liked the sense of freedom: I’m a bit of a speed freak. My husband also sailed a lot when he was a boy and now that our sons are getting older we’re planning to get a family dinghy very soon. I’m really looking forward to it.

The hastily-taken snap to the left is of a Mirror dinghy, spotted when we were on holiday. In my imagination Henry’s dinghy is a Mirror. I think I chose that because it’s what my husband owned when he was a boy (his dad made his for him), and they were very popular when we were kids. I actually learned to sail in a Wayfarer, and then moved on as quickly as I could to Toppers, whihc are much more fun.

Apologies that the photo is so bad – I literally just had time to whip out my phone before I was marched on by my sons.

I think all authors base their characters on aspects of people they know, and themselves.  Grandmother, for example, has quite a few traits I’ve borrowed from people I’ve met over the years. But I’m told that you rarely recognise yourself in a novel, so hopefully I’ll get away with it!