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I use a pseudonym, because my real name is very difficult to pronounce, to remember, and to spell. And many people who have been talking about me on television have yet to pronounce it correctly.

I wanted a pseudonym partly because I'm quite shy and private. I know that sounds ludicrous, but if I should be lucky enough to make a hit, I wanted to be able to shrug off the mantel of Nick Harkaway when I got home.

When I'm applying for a new passport or something, someone will call me Christopher. Other than that, no one ever calls me Christopher.

The idea of a pseudonym had been flitting around my brain for a long time, along with its cognate, disappearance. In the 1980s, I published some poems under a pen name in a literary magazine to see what it would feel like. It was fun. It was even a little thrilling.

I chose my pen name when I was ten, because I knew even then that my legal name would be more trouble than it was worth.

My name at birth was Carol Joan Klein. It would take me five decades to appreciate my surname and the history that came with it. Along the way, I would add an 'e' to Carol and acquire several more surnames.

Perhaps I shouldn't have been influenced by the idea that my name could be spread across the entire world.

I travel like a maniac. I travel more than anyone I know. I love learning the languages.

Different people call me different things. In America, people really struggle with my name, so I don't have a nickname as such. I've had Sharlito, Sheldon, Charldo, really interesting variations on the name.