When I’ve really enjoyed a book, I find it hard to let go. What happens next? I wonder. I start missing the characters immediately. In my eagerness for the reading experience to continue, I always flick to the acknowledgements section…

I have always been intrigued by people who change their destiny. Self-made millionaires who were born into poverty. Children from abusive homes who break the cycle and leave the violence behind rather than passing it on to the next generation…

While I was writing The Second Son, I realised my main female character, Amy Novak, needed a gun, which meant she needed to know how to use it. Yep, it’s that kind of book. Rival gangs at war on the hot and grimy streets of Sydney…