Many years ago, a colleague outlined his idealised book-writing scenario to me. It involved a sunny comfortable study, a glass of wine and the sounds of Mozart gently wafting through the room as the ideas flowed freely.  That did sound attractive, but as I’ve discovered, the truth is nothing at all like that. Sure, I do occasionally get to write in a sunny room, but as I’ve discovered, the sun moves around, the cats get bored when its raining and come in to help, and real life does tend to get in the way.

I’ve been writing psychology books for over 20 years and I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve lost track of exactly how many I’ve authored or edited over the years. In fact, a colleague now describes me as the ‘Ernie Wise of psychology’. Writing can be intellectually stimulating but it is also extremely hard work and, on occasion, incredibly frustrating. I’m lucky because, courtesy of my university, the cats and I have access to an online database of psychology journals that makes the knowledge gathering easier. So, rest assured that whatever obscure psychology AQA manage to throw at us in their next specification, me, the cats and Mozart (well, Van Morrison actually) will have it covered.