I Write My Books In My Head,

I Wanted To Be A Great White Hunter, A Prospector For Gold, Or A Slave Trader. But Then, When I Was Eight, My Parents Sent Me To A Boarding School In South Africa. It Was The Equivalent Of A British Public School With Cold Showers, Beatings And Rotten Food. But What It Also Had Was A Library Full Of Books.

Usually Halfway Through A Book I Have A Serious Depression, So I Go On Safari On My Ranch In South Africa, Or Fishing Off My Island In The Seychelles. When I Come Back And Re-read It, I Think: 'what Was All That About, Smith? It's Fine, Just Get On With It.'

Herbert, My Father, Was Born In Britain But Went Out To Africa In His Teens To Join His Father And Built Up An 18,000-acre Ranch In What Was Then Northern Rhodesia, Providing Work For The Locals. He Was My Hero When I Was A Boy.

I Think One Of The Most Poignant Things Is Unrequited Love And Loneliness.

I Am A Closet Birdwatcher. I Can Identify Southern African Species, But It Irks Me I Can Barely Tell A Jay From A Blackbird In The U.k.