The best years of my life (about a decade in my youth) were spent living in the former Soviet Union. The rest of it (about 28 years) has mostly been spent in London - feeding squirrels in Holland Park, clubbing in Camden, swimming in Hampstead ponds and drinking in gastro pubs.

Currently, I am thawing out Down Under...

I've written on various kitchen tables over the years. Desks are designed for small tidy people, I find. Only kitchen tables can accommodate all the papers, pens, books, mags, half-used tissues and coffee cups that accumulate.

After I've finished working at the kitchen table, it often transforms itself into a drinks' table (Chardonnay or Georgian red please).

I have written for, amongst others:

a Russian paper in London, English papers in Moscow, Tashkent and Tbilisi (from Little Sun to Tbilisi Pastimes), English media in England (including Evening Standard - aged about 10, BBC World Service, New Internationalist, Index on Censorship, openDemocracy and Inside Time). I won an award (TABPI silver, 2010) for my interviews with scientists in E&T (Engineering and Technology) magazine.

Many many columns, reviews and features later, I have now written a whole book called My Soviet Kitchen (published by the lovely Roast Books). This novel is possibly not for you if you're teetotal... However, if you like cooking, parties, travelling, chick-lit or exotic sub-cultures, then you should definitely enjoy it. To meet Ivy Stone, the novel's heroine, visit the Kitchen. To read an extract from the book peek into the Bedroom.

amy@amyspurling.com