"Why don't you have kids?"

Genuinely, why are you interested?

I do not profess to be a particularly interesting person. Interesting things have happened to me, but largely they happened because I am married to a man with a profile, or because I grew up with a father in a powerful job. I’m not being self deprecating here - though I’m aware it may sound like it - I just mean that I don’t sky dive out of planes, I’ve never learnt how to shoot an air rifle so accurately that I could split an apple atop your head without you flinching. I cannot dance or sing, I do not have stories to tell you of wild travel through jungles and across mountains. I am a cautious person who likes to stay at home wherever possible, that’s what I mean by not super interesting.

Other people largely define what is interesting about you. You can try yourself of course, but if you attempt to regale a stranger with a thirty minute monologue about sediment rock, you might not get as much of a reaction as you would if you accidentally revealed you have a deathly fear of sheep (something my husband did just last weekend). That is, unless you stumble upon a sediment-head, in which case you’re golden. I have a sense, through book promo, interviews and Q&As I’ve done, of some of the things people find interesting about me. The one which comes up more than any other is…that I don’t have children. That is not what I would’ve picked for myself but I guess it’s my own fault for never picking up an air rifle.