What I’m reading right now… I’m just finishing The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan and about to read The Fictional Woman by Tara Moss. I’m also reading Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. 

My favourite book growing up (why?)… was any of the Nancy Drew mysteries and then anything by Agatha Christie. I loved these stories, perhaps because they were so engrossing and I fancied myself as a pint-sized investigator.

My all time favourite book is (why?)… I don’t have an all-time favourite. There are so many stunning books out there. I love the writing of Alice Munro, JM Coetzee and Elizabeth Strout. I admire their pared back prose and its distinctive tone; and I’m interested in what books by these writers have to say.

The book I would recommend everyone to read (why?)… I’d recommend Strout’s Olive Kitteridge because it is so deftly humane and hilarious, surprising and wise.

The book I wish I wrote… To Kill a Mockingbird because it has everything – heart, intelligence, poetry, humour and grace. And it speaks of things that matter.

My guilty reading pleasure is… Pop-psychology. I’ve read scores of these books from Should You Leave to The Verbally Abusive Relationship. A lot of it was research, of course. And I did burn out for a while there, but I’ll be back.

The book on my bookshelf that I have never read… Well, there are a few unfortunately; but let’s go with Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. 

The book that never should have been turned into a film… perhaps The Time Traveller’s Wife. I loved that book but somehow its heart just didn’t make it to the screen. 

My book is… a psychological thriller framed around the night a husband has strangled his wife. It’s about love and domestic violence and romantic comedies.

I’ll never forget… the evening in April 2013 when I was offered my two-book deal with Penguin Australia.

My favourite place is… a pristine beach on a windless day. 

The most dangerous thing I have ever done is… ride a motorbike in Thailand, while wearing denim shorts and a singlet, without a helmet. 

The first time I… studied Professional Writing and Editing (at Melbourne’s Holmesglen TAFE) I felt like I was finally in the right place in my life.

I regret… taking so long to finish my book! I began writing the very first draft of What Came Before over a decade ago. That said I did give myself a few years off to take stock, reproduce etc.

I remember… as a child having fish and chips with my grandparents on Friday nights after a dip at the Brighton Beach baths. I can remember being sunburnt and salty and starving. I think back fondly on those dinners every summer.

The one piece of advice I should have listened to but didn’t… give love to love and don’t waste your time with the rest.

I love… losing myself in my writing and not noticing the words as they come.

I hate… procrastinating and dud dinners.

I wish… our society in Australia was becoming more equal rather than less so. 

I can’t say no to… having lunch with a good friend, even when I’m meant to be writing.

Yesterday, I… hacked through the top layer of ice covering the draft of my second book.