One minute with: Richard Madeley, TV presenter

Madeley says of the main character in his new novel: 'He's very much a father figure as well as having a very separate identity forged by his past' (Getty Images)

Where are you now and what can you see?

Sitting in our back garden with my laptop... I'm looking at two wooden deck-loungers I just bought from the bloke who came to jet-clean our stone-flagged steps.

What are you currently reading?

The new tranche of books for our forthcoming autumn Richard and Judy Book Club recommended reads.

Choose a favourite author and say why you admire her/him

Susanna Clarke, who wrote the extraordinary Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It's a complete tour de force, describing real English magic (as opposed to mere stagecraft) being practised in the Napoleonic era.

Describe the room where you usually write

I write anywhere I happen to be...

Which fictional character most resembles you?

I suppose I have to say Oliver Arnold, one of the main characters in my new novel. He's very much a father figure as well as having a very separate identity forged by his past.

Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

JFK. Flawed, of course, both as man and a president, but still the towering figure of the post-war generation.

Richard Madeley's debut novel, 'Some Day I'll Find You', is published by Simon & Schuster