Describe your desk
Currently: fifteen fountain pens. Seven bottles of different coloured inks. An Egyptian scribe effigy (his name is Nebmertouf), a standing Anubis; two idols of Durga, and Kali, in brightly painted wood. A dirty coffee mug. A ukulele underneath fifteen sheets of paper. A computer keyboard. Two external hard drives not connected to anything.
And a glass of cherry vodka.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I didn't grow up in Norwich, but it has always been home. It gave me a feeling for the city's different secrets; the cathedral with the friendly skeleton old As-I-Am on the wall of the south aisle; the glowing paintings of the medieval churches; the rich smell of coffee and block chocolate and stem ginger in the Mecca delicatessen; bricked-up window openings dating from the ill-fated Window Tax; mysterious alleyways and short cuts, the kissing gate on Gooseberry Lane, the little shop where I bought coconut mushrooms and peanut clusters and 'milk bottles'. (Later, I found out that friends who grew up elsewhere in England had completely different childhood confectionery.) The rich texture of the city lies behind a lot of my settings.
But Norwich is also a city of great characters. I knew a few through my grandfather and father; and anyone can tell you about Marigold, who used to direct the traffic wearing his rubber gloves. My friends now include musicians, brewers, actors, amateur archaeologists, mad rockers and academics - all completely insane. We don't do 'normal' in Norwich. Again I suspect that shows in much of what I write.
Read more of this interview.