I write because I feel compelled to write. I don't know what it is I'm trying to say, or if I'm trying to say anything of the lightest merit. I just feel unfulfilled if I don't write. I have been like that since my father, whose eductaional penchants were postively Victorian, taught me to read and write at the age of four. It is like a mental illness or an addiction. My wife is a psychotherapist and she agrees. I'm not sure that any books have touched me in my life more deeply than the Narnian Chronicles which I read repeatedly as a child - in fact, embarrassingly enough, I think I was 15 last I read them. I love Sebald but I don't think he influences me at all. I also love historical fiction, though with reservations; I don't care for romantic costume dramas preying on period atmosphere. I like the big boys, O'Brian, Harris, Farrell, Massie, Meyer, Mantel (ok she's not a boy), Gregory (neither is she), Iggulden, Tacitus (a while since he did anything new, mind), MacDonald Fraser, Toibin, Sidebottom, Cornwell.. oh we could be here all day. I'm working on-off on books featuring a morally suspect chap pitching up at big events, notably the Russian Revolution (I lived in Russia) and the fascinating Civil War which ensued. We had no clear picture of this War till the collapse of the Soviet Union and, by God, it's grim, with torture, cannibalism, seething bitterness and quasi-anarchy all running amok . I have found it is impossible to write a historical novel featuring a selfish anti-hero and not be unfavourably compared to Flashman, even though the character and period are different. C'est la vie...