I was born in England in 1977 to an English mother and Iranian father. When I was just a few weeks old, my mother and I left for Nigeria, to join my father who was directing aid programmes for UNICEF.
So although I began life in Surrey, I spent the next 17 years living overseas, in countries including Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. In spite of all this travel, I had strong roots: we spent our summers in England and winter holidays in Iran.

I've always loved reading, so when it came to choosing a subject for university, English Literature was the obvious choice. I began an English degree at University College London, but after a year I switched to Law. I knew it was an important decision at the time; in fact, it was life-changing. I did well at law and was channelled, as so many law students are, into a training contract with a City law firm. I spent the next eight years in corporate law. I found the work interesting, but creativity is very important to me and a part of me felt lost. One afternoon, six years ago, I sketched out a story that would become Pomegranate Sky, a love story set in modern day Tehran.

It was very important to me to write about Iran. I have often felt that Iran is portrayed in the media as a bleak and oppressive place. There are certainly problems in Iran, notably the unequal status of women, but I wanted to show another side. Iran is a beautiful country, the food is delicious, and Iranians are warm and hospitable. And while the media tends to paint a portrait of Iranian women as submissive and voiceless, this is not at all my experience: the Iranian women I know are courageous and resilient, and this is what I wanted to show in my novel.

As I was mainly working full time, it took a long time for me to finish my novel. I would write in the holidays and at weekends; on the train; in a coffee shop during my lunch break. And when I wasn't writing, I would think about my novel. At times, the story became as real to me as my own life. When I finally finished my novel, I felt a sense of loss. It took me a long time to say goodbye to my characters.

Some writers get published quickly; not so for me. It took time to find an agent and then the market was terrible and none of the publishing houses wanted to take a risk with a new author. I had just about given up hope for my first novel, when I found out that Pomegranate Sky had won the Virginia Prize, a new literary prize for unpublished women writers. I knew that my agent had submitted my novel, but I hadn't dared to imagine that it would win. I was astonished and overjoyed. I didn't return to law and instead, decided to focus on writing and looking after my one year old son.