I can never tell what it is t hat will spark off an idea for a book. Sometimes, the most brilliant suggestions leave me completely cold, whereas a simple incident can prove to be the starting point for a whole new idea. Such was the case with 'The Squire's Daughter'. We had gone to pay a visit to Blickling Hall, a delightful National Trust house in North Norfolk which is well worth a visit. The frontage of Blickling is quite unusual, in that as you look at it, it is framed by two huge box hedges. Now the interesting thing about these is that they are well trimmed, and look to be quite dense; but when you approach them from the other end, they are almost completely hollow. They have always intrigued me, and I have often thought that they would make a perfect place for children to play, make dens, have tea parties, talk secrets, hide from adults, etc. As we approached the house, I noticed the sound of our shoes scrunching on the stones, and it suddenly came to my mind that someone hiding in the box hedge might hear the approach of a visitor and decide to jump out on them. From there, it was only a short step to thinking about how embarrassing it would be to mistake the footsteps and jump out on the wrong person. This, of course, was exactly what happened to Fliss and the children at the beginning of the book, when they thought they were ambushing their brother, only to find themselves assaul ting their father's friend, Sir James Singleton.

A large part of this book was written during my first days studying in Cambridge. I was learning a lot, and in particular, I was finding my intellect being stimulated by a very able teacher. After her classes, I would find my mind buzzing, and without any specific assignments having been set, I found myself rushing back to my room and writing more of my book.

Another powerful stimulus I received was a class that I attended which was led by Malcolm, to whom I chiefly dedicate this book. His class in literature and theology enabled me to make all kinds of links between my writing and my studies, and helped me to see that the two areas are not discrete but inextricably entwined. It is also to Malcolm that Nick owes his fate - I won't say any more, in case you haven't yet read the book.

Finally, for those who have noticed that all my heroines have names that begin with 'F', it's pure coincidence, I'm afraid. No secret reason at all.