Friendship and love through talking animals — from where did the idea of an adult fable emerge? Once this was clear, how did The Rabbit & The Squirrel (Penguin) take shape? Tell us about the process. I've asked this question to myself, with no clear answer. It's been a little like minnows in dark water — they turn, the underside catches sun, there's a glint of silver, then it's gone. Writing this story was somewhat like that — watching things swim up to surface from the dark and then vanish. What remains is a record of a fleeting moment. Also, to be honest, I don't feel like this book's 'author' — it was something that was already around, and I simply chanced upon it. I became the one who saw it first, and then I turned to someone else and pointed it out to them.

Are these real-life people — the Rabbit and the Squirrel?
I hope so! They are real to me, they are a part of me.