Maristella, I started writing fiction when I was 47 and I made my first heroine 47 because I was so tired of reading books about women younger - a *lot* younger - than me. Women over 40 didn't seem to feature in popular fiction except as somebody's mother or somebody's wife and they never seemed to be involved in happy or passionate sexual relationships. So I set out to write the sort of book I'd like to read. That became EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY. I never thought I'd find a publisher for it because of the heroine's age. So far all three of my published novels have mature heroines. I think it's interesting to read and write about women whose lives are complicated, women who have lived and known both joy and pain. A lot of my fans are young women who have said that they are happy to read about role models for their future, to see where they are heading as women.

I was once interviewed by a young female journalist who was very interested and inspired by my sexy middle-aged heroines. She said, rather wistfully, "I hope I'm still having sex when I'm 40."

I asked myself, what have we done to young women in the UK that they think they might *not*!

I'm hoping STAR GAZING will be made into a film but I haven't heard anything yet.