The Shape I'm in: Author Sheila O'Flanagan on what it takes to write a bestseller

SHEILA O’Flanagan has decamped to her summer home outside Alicante. But while the summer sun is pouring down outside, her mind is on a white winter.

“I’m currently editing some work for a piece for Christmas so I’m thinking about snow,” she says with a laugh.

Though there is a deadline looming, she maintains a good work-life balance. “I always start around eight, sometimes it would be later. I usually do about two-and-a-half hours — it depends on the day and on what I might have planned to do.”