One Minute With: Jonathan Harvey, novelist

Harvey says of Mo Mowlam: 'She was a politician I felt I could trust'

Where are you now and what can you see?

I am on a Virgin train heading up to Manchester for a Coronation Street script conference. I can see lots of miserable business people working on laptops.

What are you currently reading?

An advance copy of 'The Girl You Left Behind' by Jojo Moyes. Like everything she writes, it's wonderful.

Choose a favourite author and say why you admire him/her

I am never disappointed by Marian Keyes. Her books make me laugh, yet have a profundity to them, never shying away from dark subject matters.

Describe the room where you usually write

In my kitchen. I have a fabulous view of Battersea Power station.

Which fictional character most resembles you?

It's ages since I read the 'Tales of the City' books by Armistead Maupin, but I always identified with Michael 'Mouse' Tolliver. He was a bit of a softie.

Who is your hero/heroine outside literature?

Mo Mowlam. She was a politician I felt I could trust. I met her at a dinner party. Halfway through she kicked her shoes off, put her feet in my lap and asked me to give her a foot massage. I did.

Jonathan Harvey's 'All She Wants' is published by Pan