Interview: writing a novel across two countries

This conversation is drawn from a festival live session. Answers are lightly edited for length.

On starting the book: "It began as a single scene I could not place. I knew the weather and the light, but not the country. Writing it twice, once in each setting, told me which one the book actually belonged to."

On research: "I stopped researching the moment it became a way of not writing. You need enough to be accurate and not so much that the novel turns into a report."

On revision: "The second draft is where the book gets its manners. The first draft is allowed to be rude, repetitive and much too long."

On publishing internationally: "Readers in different countries arrive at the same book from very different doors. A festival that is online rather than in one city shows you that quickly."

On advice for first-time festival authors: "Prepare three things: the sentence that describes your book, the passage you will read aloud, and the question you hope someone asks. Everything else you can improvise."