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The first book I did - the first successful book - was a kind of a travel book, and publishers in Britain encouraged me to do more.

I was just lucky I lived in this time of mass-market paperbacks.

I was lucky enough to be given books that weren't top sellers; books that were kind of under the radar.

My earliest, most impactful encounter with a book was when I was seven and awoke early on Christmas morning to find Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' in my stocking. I had never been so excited by the sight of a book - and have possibly never been since!

Books were the window from which I looked out of a rather meager and decidedly narrow room onto a rich and wonderful universe. I loved the look and feel of books, even the smell... Libraries were treasure houses. I always entered them with a slight thrill of disbelief that all their endless riches were mine for the borrowing.

I was incredibly lucky that my first book found a large and loyal readership. It changed my life - from being a very withdrawn adult to living in Paris as a full-time writer. It has also given me enormous confidence.

I think of my books as mainstream and that's were most people who read them look for them in book stores.

My first book was the most successful debut novel in the U.K. ever and every one of my books has reached number one in the U.K. Clearly the British know brilliance when they see it.

I chose to publish the first 'Shopaholic' book under a pseudonym because I wanted it to be judged on its own merits.

Last week I was just someone who had had a first novel published.