When I’m working on a novel I type the initial draft first thing in the morning. Really: first thing. For preference, I have a cigarette ready-rolled and a coffee percolator loaded the night before; then I simply roll out of bed, fuel up and set to it. I believe the dreaming and imagining faculties are closely related, such that wreathed in night-time visions I find it possible to suspend disbelief in the very act of making stuff up.

I would so much like to have a daily writing schedule. If I had one, I'd probably start about 9.30, write for 2 hours, have lunch, write another 2, then goof off. As it is, I goof off, then panic and write in the evenings. Do not follow my example.

I try to start work before 9am. My writing room is probably my favourite place in the world. It’s in the garden, about a minute’s walk from the house.

Our life here is simple, very simple. Get up in the morning, go for a run, come back. If it is a day for cleaning, we do the cleaning, or we just relax. Then go for lunch, massage, the 4 o'clock run, evening tea, relax, go to sleep. As simple as that.

My marriage has not been a drudge. But in 29 years there are times where it's not all excitement, thunderbolts and shooting stars. You have to think, 'I like you and I rate you,' and you'll ride it out.

Having a family can be a rude awakening for some people but it wasn't like that for me. I've absolutely loved it and I still do. I've got two daughters, Polly and Camilla, in their late 20s now. You get these people who say, "Wait for the terrible twos," and, yes, they've had the odd flounce, but they've got increasingly joyful to be around. My wife Alice and I are very close to them and value their company hugely.

I aspire to Jane Austen's precision and observation, but I'm nowhere near.

My inability to play the piano.

I'm a cryer. The family has a competition to see who can get me going at Christmas. The last time I blubbed was on my birthday, when my daughter gave me a framed photo of my 15-month-old grandson Hugo, but I have been known to shed a tear at The Railway Children or Pretty Woman.

But I should have more confidence, it's ridiculous.