As part of the Essex Book Festival one of its guests Sarah Harrisons agreed to answer your questions.

Here are the responses:

Q. Where do you get your inspiration from for your stories?
A. Life - incidents, other people, newspapers, feelings, family
situations. But I have to live the life, and digest it, not wander
about 'seeking inspiration' and making notes. Stuff goes into the mental boxroom and is there to surprise me at some later date.

Q. Is there a particular genre of story you would like to tackle which you haven't yet?
A. Yes, a classic, chilling ghost story in the M R James mould.

Q. What advice would you give to budding authors?
A. Be yourself - your greatest asset is your uniqueness. Balance that with a willingness to learn your craft - that provides you with control and freedom.
And STORY FIRST - it's so much easier to say something if you've got something to say...

Q. Which authors do you admire?
A. Daphne du Maurier; Ian McEwan; Richmal Crompton; P G Wodehouse; Alan Bennett

Q. Do you ever get writers block and if so how do you deal with it?
A. We all have bad days, but I've been really blocked only once, with my second published novel 'A Flower That's Free' - having had a success with my first book I was confronted with the awesome challenge of having to repeat that success, with a sequel, and without the advantage of being the new kid on the block.
I eventually cracked it by taking up jogging (yes, honestly) and by creating a completely new central character that helped me come fresh to the book. But it's scary alright.

Q. Which of the characters you have created for your novels is most like you and why?
A. Impossible to say, because there are aspects of myself in almost all my main characters.
If pushed I'd say that domestically speaking Harriet Blair in the 'Hot Breath' sequence is, like me, a stranger to
the hoover; Thea in 'The Flowers of the Field' wears her heart on her sleeve, not always to her advantage; In 'Life After Lunch' Laura as a mother, a grandmother, and a partner has difficulty in keeping all the emotional plates spinning.... Shan't go on for fear of incriminating myself.

Q. What is your proudest achievement as an author?
A. Simply to have written twenty two books including sixteen novels in several different genres and with varying degrees of commercial success.
It's what I always wanted to do, and I'm doing it, though I
think as you go along you come to realise that you're never going to 'get there' in terms of your own aspirations. The thing is, to keep on trying.

Q. What has your experience been of readers/ groups?
A. Good. You can't beat the stimulating literary rub-down with
wire-wool that a lively readers group provides. The feedback's
invaluable and the criticism's almost always constructive. A useful and enjoyable exercise for all concerned.

Q. Should writers receive support and funding from central and local government?
A. With publishers and agents having to be more and more
accountant-driven, I think the answer is a cautious yes, so that good/new/young writers can be nurtured and encouraged. But how to decide who gets what, and by what criteria?
Those of us who've made our way - and our living - by the hard commercial school might be tempted to think of government funding as 'soft', but if we take good writing seriously then it should be given time and space to breathe and find its stride. In other words, I don't know.

Q. What is the one thing that prompted you to become a writer?
A. The desire to entertain. If i wasn't doing this, I'd like to have been on stage (fishnets and topper, not Mother Courage) - writing for me is a branch of showbusiness.
And reading - those books like  Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, The Wind in the Willows, Just William which became of my imaginitive make-up in childhood and made me think 'I want to do that'.