I’d never written a book before. I’d never sat alone on a sofa with a laptop, sobbing my heart out. I’d never had a labradoodle look at me with his head tilted to one side because I was apparently laughing at nothing. I discovered what it was like to be a writer by letting myself go to those places.

If you're already shouting, "It didn't!" then we're on the same page.

I spent a lot of my life being certain or pretending to be certain. An early brush with military life and leadership taught me that to lead men you must portray certainty, for it would be unreasonable to expect them to follow you if you were not. That translated into my business life, where I rather quickly found myself at the top of organizations; a place I was woefully I’ll-equipped to be.

Eva was written on this sofa using two fingers and a thumb.

I didn’t mean to write EVA.