OK, we have to talk about your books. If you had to bring back a character and explore where she is today, who first comes to mind?

Oh, any of the Walshes. I had to reread Helen Walsh’s book, The Mystery of Mercy Close, recently and I’d love to give her another outing. And Rachel Walsh from Rachel’s Holiday. The funny thing is, I don’t believe in sequels, I just think that characters go through so much in my books that, to write a sequel, I’d have to go in and break up their happy ending. But I have been thinking about it and I’m definitely going to write another Walsh book soon. Probably the next one.

I’d like to see how Rachel is getting on because it’s been a long time. I care about all the Walsh sisters, I suppose probably more than the other families I’ve created. Because I’ve spent five books with them, or six if you include the Mammy Walsh’s A-Z of the Walsh Family e-book.

I think maybe I would like to revisit them if I didn’t make them very unhappy. But you can’t just write a book about happy things. If I was to go back to Rachel, something bad would have had to happen for her to have a story – that’s the unpleasant reality.

But Mammy Walsh, I’d love to write about her again.

Would you say that Rachel was perhaps your favourite character to write, then?

You know, I really like Anna Walsh. She is probably more similar to me than Rachel. And there’s Lola Daly in This Charming Man who I was very fond of. But, do you know what, I love them all because I have to. I know it sounds like I’m side stepping the question but I have to care about them all.

I’ve just finished a book and there’s a woman in it called Mel who’s 30 and she’s just really idealistic, a good person and really passionate about the planet. I love her, she’s my current love.

Amy, in the last book I wrote, The Break, isn’t dissimilar to me either. Having said that, I like the ones who aren’t like me, too. It’s great to create characters that are really different to me. You know, like the confident ones who say what they think and don’t care, and they wouldn’t cry if people were mean to them on Twitter.

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