I spend early mornings on my own, from any time between five thirty and six thirty until about nine thirty or even lunchtime, depending on what the day ahead holds. It is, for me, the best time to write.

With just the cats for company and a wonderful view of our garden, I hole up in my little study, surrounded by books and pictures, a cup of raspberry tea on the desk beside me, and spend a while reading emails, comments and posts from the previous day. Then I check to see what challenges and prompts there are to work with. These I like to tackle before I go on to develop, revise and edit poems, short stories and sometimes the novel on which I’m working.

In the afternoon, the mood dips and I crave company, someone to talk to and share things with. I wait for my husband to…