A Man of Understanding is your third novel, what drew you to writing fiction?
From a young age, it was clear that I had a talent for writing. I have enjoyed writing fiction since I was a child, when my parents bought me a paperback book as a birthday present in which to write my own novel, with a space on the front cover to write the title and my name. At about the same time, I had poems published in the school magazine. The idea of combining poetry with fiction in novels appeals to me – I hadn’t seen it done before. It has proved very popular with readers of my novels. I find fiction writing an ideal means of expressing interesting, thought-provoking themes through strong characters, with moving plots.