Most of my lovely readers are aware that in August my book Love, Tears &  Autism is coming out. I have to answer some questions about it for publicity, so here's one as a taster.

What motivated you to write this book?

Every Thursday for a year, I would drive across Sydney so that I could drop my preschooler and his baby brother at my mother in law’s place for the morning. I’d say a quick goodbye and head out to the shops where I could do all the things I needed to do and then at the end, sit at relax in a café with a book, a piece of cake and a pot of earl gray tea.

After my little boy was diagnosed with ASD, I quickly swapped my Thursday morning novels for books about autism. I scoured bookshops and libraries for information and read everything, mostly crying at the same time.

Unfortunately, though, I never really found the book I was looking for. The technical books were heavy and discouraging, and the personal stories were either overly depressing or unrealistically cheerful.

I wanted a book which explained autism in real life language, gave me practical help, emotional support and told me that there was light at the end of the tunnel. I never found it, so I tried to write it. Hopefully, I have succeeded!