I began writing The Bad Mother’s Handbook on an Arvon course in July 2000. I’d had the basic plot in mind for a while and had got as far as the first few pages, but I got fired up by the enthusiasm of my tutor, Katherine Frank. Then the story seemed to take on a life of its own, and the bulk of it, probably four-fifths, was written in eight weeks. It took me a lot longer to revise it, of course.

I gave the manuscript to David Rees and it was Hodder Headline who first showed an interest. I was invited down to London for lunch to discuss a possible two-book deal – incredibly scary – and a fortnight later they telephoned with an offer. In my innocence I thought that was the end of it and cracked open the Cava, but David said before we accepted anything he wanted to show the manuscript to his friend Peter Straus, an agent with Rogers, Coleridge and White. Peter thought more people should see the manuscript, so he delivered copies to three other publishing houses and invited offers. It was surreal. We sold to Picador who not only put in the highest bid but also put forward plans for a really imaginative publicity campaign.

I was a gibbering wreck when I put the phone down from talking to Peter that night, and I think all my husband and I talked about for the entire weekend was book deal and its implications. I keep having little flashes of terror, but it’s not an emotion you can sustain for very long, especially with two small children screaming in your ear. I think, to be honest, I still don’t believe it. But then an amazing thing happens to confirm it, like being interviewed on Woman’s hour, or getting myself into Heat magazine’s top ten, and I think Well bugger me!