She was precocious, writing a poem at five, a sonnet at 13, and making Hunter Thompson, the king of Gonzo, the beneficiary of her life-insurance policy at 14! “It was a school scheme. I adored Thompson and found his address in the Rolling Stone magazine. For me living in the Bible belt, it was interesting to hear someone change the creatures’ language and throw it back at them as though it were a Molotov cocktail,” she said with a glint.

Don’t ask too much about her personal life. But if you must know, she lives with two dogs: “It’s good to have non-verbal company”; recites Upon Westminster Bridge to herself on restless nights and translates Rimbaud. And, no, her next book is not a psychological thriller about a group of people trapped in a lift. “But I can’t tell you what it is. I’m superstitious about a work in progress,” she said.