This is the write time

By putting pen to paper, Joanna Trollope fills the empty spaces left by her children flying the nest - and comes to terms with the ups and downs of her own life, as Hannah Stephenson discovers.

Joanna Trollope's own life experiences undoubtedly provide the inspiration for the countless emotional dilemmas that feature in her books, from adoption to adultery, the complexities of partnerships and the heartache of divorce. In her latest offering, Second Honeymoon, she's tackling the empty nest - something she experienced a decade ago when her children left home.

The author moved out of her childhood abode at 21 to get married - and never returned. Today, she says, youngsters don't have that attitude. "Now, the young leave with a toothbrush and an iPod, leaving their bedrooms exactly as they've been for 20 years and then when something goes wrong - they lose their jobs, become pregnant, get into debt - back they come."

Joanna has forged a successful career writing about the uncomfortable, delving into a catalogue of social contemporary issues when cosy domestic trappings give way to bubbling anxieties and emotional turmoil. Her books are well written and accessible, which goes some way to explaining their success. And the blockbusting novels penned by the queen of the Aga saga such as The Rector's Wife, Other People's Children, Girl From The South and Marrying The Mistress have helped her through many emotional times.

Although Joanna has been writing for more than 35 years, it was two decades before she was published. She started with romantic historical novels under the pseudonym Caroline Harvey before hitting the big time with The Rector's Wife, published in the early 90s. That became a bestseller and made her a household name.

During the fallow years, she never considered giving up. "I kind of needed to do it. There were moments of feeling very stuck, like I'd got a large vehicle up a cul-de-sac and couldn't turn round. But it's a need to communicate and I have a very ardent belief in the power of stories.

"I should think that most of the deals done in the world are done using anecdote and story as a precedent. I've always been completely absorbed by stories. Even if I didn't have anything completely new to say I could possibly say it in a slightly different way."

Joanna married her first husband, banker David Potter, at 22, had two children and met her second, TV dramatist Ian Curteis, when she was 37. He was also married at the time. Both left their respective partners, endured two messy divorces and were married in 1985. She left him in 1998 and suffered a mini-breakdown before seeking help from a psychotherapist.

The whole experience made her realise the benefits of freedom. She is quite happy to live alone. "I've got a true liberty now that I've never had in my life before which is the most incredible compensation for the empty nest."

Joanna, 62, is utterly disciplined when it comes to her craft. "If there's a book on the go, I set myself a weekly target of so many words. How I achieve that varies from week to week because the demands on my time are absolutely amazing. If I've had a busy week doing other work such as charity things or family things, I'd work through a weekend. Sunday is a good scribbling day.

"Most of my novels have been written on kitchen tables. I've had studies but I don't really like them. They seem a bit formal, a bit pretentious." She writes in longhand and often has music playing in the background. Living alone makes the process easier.

She had always worked when her children were growing up, firstly as a teacher before becoming a writer. When they left home, she simply increased her workload. The painstaking research for each book can take months. "On the whole, the research takes about as long as a baby," she smiles. "It's obviously a biological habit."

Joanna won a scholarship to Oxford and then went on to work for a spell in the Foreign Office before becoming a teacher. She began writing "to fill the long spaces after the children had gone to bed" and for many years combined her writing career with working as a teacher. It was in 1980 that she became a full time author but says: "My first novel was written when I was 14, all about myself, of course (it is now kept under lock and key in case my children find it...)"

She now lives alone in London and Oxford, remains tight-lipped about her private life and doesn't like to reveal too much about her family (she has two daughters, two stepchildren and five grandchildren).

"It's pretty horrible having a wellknown mother," she reflects. "It feels rather intrusive and I think it's difficult sharing your parents. I also feel their lives are their own and I should shield them, so I do."

Now, book tours and charity work take up much of her time while the stage version of Marrying The Mistress has just begun a regional tour. And as she is already working on another book there really is very little time at all to reflect on the empty nest.