'I've been lucky'

As someone who's on their sixth novel and has had their ups and downs, I'm aware of how privileged and lucky I have been, and what a shock it can be for debut writers - all the reality of that world, and that new voice and when the book doesn't quite take off, it's a shock.

I'm lucky that I had this other job as a screenwriter, also lucky to have a publisher who can ride out the ups and downs. The Understudy didn't do very well but they were prepared to stick with me and then obviously One Day did very well, so I am concerned for those who don't find their way until their third novel, which might be the one where they find their voice and readers discover them. I feel for new voices and recognise I've been lucky to have been supported through the ups and downs of my career...

To me there's a tang to AI that's really horrible, it's really nasty. It's like strawberry flavouring, it's nothing like strawberry at all... I am resistant to it. I'm sure it will get harder and harder to distinguish between human voice and AI but certainly in the creative world I am actively turned off from it. It's not even amusing to me, it's horrible.'

David Nichols, author of six novels which are about love and the experience of love in various life stages, including the bestselling One Day, which was made into a highly successful Netflix series, in The Bookseller.