Our interview this month is with the very talented and bestselling novelist, Susan Lewis, author of over nineteen novels such as Stolen Beginnings, Summer Madness, Last Resort and The Hornbeam Tree, (shortlisted for The Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2005).

Her powerful book, A French Affair, a spellbinding blend of mystery and roller-coaster excitement combined with a good dash of old fashioned romance, first published in 2006 by Random House, has just recently been published by Arrow Books in paperback. I went to meet Susan at her home in the charming medieval village of Tourrettes-sur-Loup to chat about her writing and her feelings about living on the French Riviera.

Born in 1956 in Bristol, a city located in the South West of England and situated some 100 miles from London, she began her professional career in her early twenties working at the local television station HTV and later Thames Television in London. When a friend came across her ideas for a children's book she suggested showing the manuscript to a literary agent. Although it found favour it sadly was not published, but Susan's definite writing style was noticed and she was asked to try her hand at writing a novel.

Her first one, A Class Apart, was published in 1990, followed a year later by Dance While You Can and then Stolen Beginnings in 1992. Her books found a mass market audience and with her growing success she now found herself a full-time author. With her success came money in the bank and the first thoughts of making a break from the United Kingdom and coming to live on the French Riviera: “I wanted a house in the South of France with a pool because, that's what you did when you had money. I was so innocent and far too young to comprehend how stressful it would be” she explained.

And so, oblivious to the difficulties ahead and approaching her mid-30's, Susan left her rented flat in London in 1992, and came down to the South of France and started looking for a place to live. Much to her disappointment she couldn't find anything she truly liked; that is until one particular trip when she drove over to see some friends living on the Cote d'Azur. Hearing about a house for sale in Valbonne on Riviera Radio she decided on the off chance to drive over and see it. It was love at first sight and she bought the villa that same day.

It was to be her home for many years, her haven to return to after hectic book tours travelling around Europe and the USA, and where she could squirrel herself away when writing a new novel. Yet it was also an unexpected and devastating cultural shock for her. With little knowledge of the French language to help her she found living in France very stressful.

Affairs of the heart being what they are, in 1997 Susan found herself living in the thriving metropolis of Los Angeles and experiencing the glamourous world of Hollywood with celebrities such as Nicolas Cage and George Clooney as her neighbours. Exciting times though they certainly were, in 2003 she decided to return to the UK and then to the French Riviera to look for another home: she found her haven in Tourrettes-sur-Loup and settled back to her writing, confident and happy and with a new love in her life.

It was while on one of her trips here that she learnt of a villa coming up for sale in Tourrettes-sur-Loup. Not only did she personally know the house, as luck would have it, it was next door to her good friends, Britain's foremost humourist and broadcaster, Alan Coren and his wife. (Sadly, Alan died of cancer in October 2007). Susan bought the house in January 2007 and moved there in March that same year, following renovations.

While the years have passed since the publication of her first manuscript it seems that inspiration is never far away. Still now, she gets swept away with the story line, discovering her main character, nearly always a woman, first. Once she has made herself known, Susan captures her in her mind's eye: how she looks, the colour of her hair, if she's married or single, or has a family. A backstory slowly builds and bit by bit other characters emerge breathing more life into her novel. Conversations, even jokes, seem to flow naturally and a plot develops. Eager to find out how it finishes, Susan writes seven days a week, watching it unfold before her eyes as the novel takes on a life of its own.

“How long does it take you to write a novel?” I asked.

“That depends, but generally it can take between two to six months. Sometimes the book almost writes itself, but there are times when it's longer though never more than six months as I'm too impatient to know how it all ends. Nor can I stop and start a book once the momentum is set; I just go at it” she replied laughing.

And it's a hard and often lonely life in the early stages of a new book. Her day starts early with a walk with her dogs either around the garden or in the forest above the hills of Tourrettes. Afterwards she goes to her study and writes until 4pm when she stops to feed the dogs and take them for another walk. Away from her writing she has time to think about the storyline before returning to her computer until about 7pm when she calls it a day. For her, writing is a solitary form of art.

When I came to interview her she was in the throes of finishing her current manuscript and could only find time for me if I sat with her while she had a manicure. “Would you like one too?” she asked “Well yes, I'd love one.” I replied and so we chatted as the manicurist shaped, trimmed and polished our nails.

“How do you see your future?” I asked as my nails were painted pink.

“I think maybe returning to the UK, to Bristol, in two or three years' time” Susan replied. “I am quite independent and need solitude when I write and that's why I love it here. I love the weather, and I love Tourrettes but I also need a life, and there is also James. And James lives and works in Bristol.”

As I drove back to Chateauneuf admiring my perfect nails, I felt sad to think Tourrettes would lose such a charming and bubbly person. There again, Susan did mention the pool house and how, with a little bit of tweaking, she could turn that into her office – and also, James did like the French Riviera very much . . .