The landscape of my novel SILVERSANDS owes a lot to the coastline of Pembrokeshire, where my father grew up. It’s a rugged coastline of plunging cliffs and scattered islands. There are lighthouses, small inlets and jutting headlands. There are long sandy beaches and, in the summer, yellow gorse flowers cover the hills and hedgerows.

Because I can’t sit at my computer all day, I carry a Moleskine notebook with me. I use it to jot down thoughts, impressions, and snatches of dialogue. Many of these later resurface in stories or poems.