Author Lesley Pearse came to writing later in life but has had huge success, having sold more than 10 million books worldwide.
Her latest novel, The Woman In The Wood, has become a bestseller in Ireland. She joined us to discuss the book and how some of the difficulties in her own life and childhood have crept into her writing.
Lesley's mother, who was Irish, died when she was three years old. She and her brother were subsequently placed in separate Roman Catholic orphanages, and her father went on to remarry.
She describes her stepmother as "an absolute monster" and "a formidable character", but she did instill a love of reading in Lesley.
Lesley has been married three times, something she attributes partly to her difficulty in forming relationships as an adult following her childhood experiences: ("I was looking for love and probably picked the wrong people." She also made the difficult decision to give one of her children up for adoption in the 1960s, another subject which has found its way into her writing.
"If you can write about something in your past that's upsetting, it's very good therapy," she says.
She has now written 25 books, but it took her a while to find success.
"I started writing just after my youngest daughter was born, but I didn't get published until I was 48, and it took seven years to get that book published. Writing is not a 'get rich quick' scheme - you've got to hone your craft."
Whenever she is asked about what it takes to be a writer, she always says, "There's got to be Irish blood, a screwed up childhood and a Roman Catholic upbringing - and I've got all three of them."
