Sometimes,' Sylvie Said, 'one Can Mistake Gratitude

Not Being Published Would Be Great. When I Say That To Other Writers They Look At Me As If I'm Totally Insane.

Alternate History Fascinates Me, As It Fascinates All Novelists, Because 'what If?' Is The Big Thing.

I Had A Novel In The Back Of My Mind When I Won An Ian St James Story Competition In 1993. At The Award Ceremony An Agent Asked Me If I Was Writing A Novel. I Showed Her Four Or Five Chapters Of What Would Become 'behind The Scenes At The Museum' And To My Surprise She Auctioned Them Off.

My Father Was An Autodidact. It Wasn't A Middle-class House. Shopkeepers Are Aspirant. He Paid For Me To Go To Private School. He Was Denied An Education - He Had A Horrible Childhood. He Got A Place At A Grammar School And Wasn't Allowed To Go.

If They Would All Sleep All The Time She Wouldn't Mind Being Their Mother.