London Book Award nominee Joanna Hodgkin: 'David Hare in one of his dramatic monologues said something that registered with me, along the lines of: as you get older memory replaces imagination. That feels like the journey my work has taken, almost accidentally: biography, trying to create a kind of sense from past events, is taking the place for me of the imaginative leap that creates fiction.'

Your recent book Amateurs in Eden focuses on your mother. Have you always wanted to tell her story, or what prompted you to start writing it?  

My sister Penelope, daughter of Nancy and Lawrence Durrell, fell ill a few years ago, and we thought she would need long term care. Her husband and I talked to some people who specialise in intellectual property in order to capitalize on the centenary, and they reported that the person in the Durrell story who was still a mystery was Nancy - had I ever considered writing about her? No was the honest answer. But when I looked at the material Nancy had left, and that Penelope had gathered also, and thought about the story, the project took hold.

You already have a huge following as a crime novelist under your married name, will you be continuing to write in the crime genre, or has your career path now changed to a largely biographical one?

David Hare in one of his dramatic monologues said something that registered with me, along the lines of: as you get older memory replaces imagination. That feels like the journey my work has taken, almost accidentally: biography, trying to create a kind of sense from past events, is taking the place for me of the imaginative leap that creates fiction. But … I'm working on nonfiction now. What I have learned is that it is all story telling. Who knows what will be next?

As a mentor for young writers, what do you feel if the most common mistake a young writer tends to make, and do you ever receive inspiration from those you are helping?

I feel hugely ambivalent about the whole creative writing teaching industry, because I think the key to the whole thing is finding your own voice, and you do that by digging deep inside yourself, not by trying to please a writing group or mentor or whoever. But what I love about unpublished writers is that they talk with passion about books and writing: once published, we just sit around and moan together about editors and agents and PLR! (Though right now I'm so impressed by the way Amateurs has been nurtured through the process, I have ceased to moan.)

When do you feel most satisified as a writer?

When I'm writing, and everything else is forgotten.

Amateurs in Eden website.