“I like extreme situations: people pushed out of their comfort zones; the civil v…” — Sarah Hall

You always hope you'll surprise somebody with the work. If you write something human and appealing, the perfect reader could be anyone.

It's very interesting to me that the nationalist movement in Scotland has become so positive and self-reflective rather than anti-English. The referendum in 2014 was peaceful, for all its deeply and passionately divided people.

I tend to research as I write so that the narrative can take priority, which is important for a piece of fiction, I think, finding out facts as and when I need to.

I've always been interested in wolves, since I was a child. There was a wolf enclosure in a wildlife park very close to where I was brought up; they were the main attraction.