1. 

2. Tell us about your character Jo from 10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love.

   Jo is funny, straight-talking and irrepressible. She never expected to end up as a single mum but when it happened she didn't mope around feeling sorry for herself, she picked herself up and got on with the tough job in hand. She is devoted to her son Alfie but also determined to resurrect her career, something I think a lot of women can relate to. And although she no longer believes in happy endings, she so deserves one.

3. What is the worst 'And finally' story you've ever seen?

   One about a local gurning competition sticks in my mind as does one about a gorilla who enjoyed taking a bath at a zoo. It's the way these stories are juxtaposed with hard news stories that grates with me. Hundreds of people dead in some natural disaster but don't worry folks, we've found a tap-dancing poodle for you.

4. Why did you choose to set 10 Reasons around a TV news station?

   I had great fun with the newspaper settings for my first novel I Did a Bad Thing and a lot of people said how much they enjoyed it. I wanted to keep a journalistic setting for 10 Reasons but wanted to do something fresh and a local TV newsroom seemed the obvious choice and something which could provide a lot of humour.

5. Did you always want to be a journalist?

   I always wanted to be a writer, I declared at age eight that I wanted to have a novel published and by the time I'd got to 12 or 13 I was realistic enough to know that it wasn't something you could do straight after school so journalism seemed the obvious way I could earn a living from writing. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and now I'm an author as well, it's absolutely fantastic. I can't imagine ever stopping writing.

6. If you were the subject of a front page headline, what would you want it to say?

   Johnny Depp snaps up film rights to Green's new novel!

7. As a married woman, what are your top reasons to fall in love?

   1. Because you can't imagine life without that person.
   2. Because they believe in and share your hopes and dreams.
   3. And because you need someone to help pay the mortgage, do the housework and look after the baby while you write a novel!



8. What inspired you to write about guilt in I Did a Bad Thing?

   My husband was engaged to someone else when I met him. He eventually broke it off to get together with me. I was wracked with guilt at the time but I suppose 18 years later it looks like we did the right thing after all. I think women tend to carry guilt around with them like a mouldy old apple core festering in the bottom of their bag. I'm all for taking responsibility for your behaviour but I think sometimes we need to learn to let it go.

9. After so many rejections for your first book, did you come close to giving up?

   Logically after 101 rejections and many people questioning my sanity I should have given up but I have never been a big one for logic. Having a novel published was my lifetime's ambition so I knew I couldn't give up on it in my 30s. And persevering like that made success that much sweeter when it came.

10. What can you tell us about your third book?

    It's set partly in the present day and partly in the mid-80s and its heroine is 30-something Claire who find the 'What I'll Be Doing 20 Years From Now' list she wrote when she was an idealistic 15-year-old, swooning over her favourite football star. Unfortunately, her life hasn't turned out quite as she'd planned. But maybe those dreams aren't quite past their sell-by date. Or maybe those teenage years weren't quite as good as she pretends . . . It's the usual mix of humour and darker stuff, lots of 80s nostalgia and will hopefully appeal to any woman who ever had a pin-up on her bedroom wall. I'm enjoying writing it and hopefully it should be published next year.

11. Who is your favourite book heroine and why?

    I like unconventional heroines so it would have to be either 14-year-old Susie Salmon in Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones for not being bitter about what happened to her or the middle-aged Maureen in Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down for making readers appreciate the things we take for granted.

12. What do you do to escape writing?

    Having a four-year-old to look after means I have very little 'me' time. I'm basically either writing or looking after my son, Rohan. Fortunately he is great fun and absolutely passionate about theatre/drama so my escape from writing usually involves us re-enacting the Wizard of Oz for the 500th time. Our local cinema is showing the film this weekend to mark the 70th anniversary of its release so I may just be pressured into going dressed as Dorothy!

13. Which celebrity would you most like to interview?

    The one who has something genuinely interesting to say. And as most of them don't, I'd much rather interview an ordinary person who has done something remarkable with their lives. Although, of course if George Clooney wanted to give me an exclusive on his political and humanitarian beliefs I'd be happy to make an exception!

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