Is this something that you've done in your own life too, or did as part of the research for this book?

Well, most of my research really takes place inside of me, in the place that I refer to when I do a little bit of teaching of creative writing, and I refer to it as our secret garden, the place we sort of go around the back of the garden shed, open a rusting old door, and go into the place that's the real us, Not the socially acceptable us that's sort of serving the sausages at the barbecue in the backyard, but the us that's around the back of the shed, through the door and into the place of our deep, our real fears, what we really feel, what we really think, what we really want.

And most of my research takes place inside me.

But going back to a place again and again is something quite important to me.

I know loads of people, when they think of going on holiday, think of novelty and they think, oh, you know, where can we be that we where can we go that we haven't been before? But for me, and maybe that's partly just because what we did as kids, we always went back.

We went back to the Norfolk Broads again and again and again.

And now with my own family, my own kids who are grown up now, we continue to go back and back and back to this one beach again.

I would love to hear an