This much I know: Cathy Kelly

Trying to write without being a reader is a little like trying to be John Rocha without ever having seen a dress. My advice to any would-be writer is to read, read — and read.

I am a very disciplined writer because I have to be. Given half a chance, I’d slope off and read or find that the baking cupboard needs to be sorted out... I’d use anything as a distraction.

Somebody once said that a writer’s fame is a nice sort of thing in that it can get you a booking in a restaurant but nobody will interrupt your dinner to ask you for your autograph. My fame is hilariously different — people say hello in the supermarket. I like being able to use my bit of fame for things like publicising the work that UNICEF does.