Yes, I know I'm shouting, but I'm so excited. Regular readers will know that I lost my darling little Westie, Millie, (her of Sunshine at Cherry Tree Farm fame) three years ago. Bless her, she was fourteen and had lived a pretty good life, and was healthy and active right up until the end.

Have you got a favourite Christmas jumper?

The book is set in Barcelona, and I think this is one of the most fascinating cities in the world. It’s got it all – surrounded by mountains, it has fabulous beaches, history dating back to before the Romans, amazing architecture, fantastic restaurants and cafes, and a truly cosmopolitan culture. I visited Barcelona in my mid-teens and it astounded me then (though to be fair, I think it was the shopping that really caught my eye) and when my husband, who is a keen marathon ru

I’m an only child. My mother is an only child. My father is an only child. And my grandparents lived with us when I was growing up.

You’d think, as an author, your writing commitments would stop at writing the story, wouldn’t you? I certainly did, when I was young and naïve (okay, maybe not that young!). My idea of being an author, before I joined the real world, was that you wrote a novel, sent it off somewhere, someone would jump up and down with glee when they clapped eyes on it, and you’d merrily dance off into the sunset to write the next one, your job done.

My debut uplifting rom ance, Sunshine at Cherry Tree Farm , was born out of a need to celebrate the life of my gorgeous little Westie, Millie. It was my first chick lit novel, as I felt that was the best medium to tell the story. Although Jenni is nothing like me and neither is the circumstances or the plot, Millie in the book is heavily based on my own little dog. My dog, Millie, immortalised in Sunshine at Cherry Tree Farm She was such a sweet-natured, gentle dog with a te

Finding the time to write has become a bit of a challenge.