The Girl on the Train has been one of our bestselling books over the past few months. Here, we chat to the author Paula Hawkins about her popular novel.

You said recently in a New York Times interview that this book was ‘a last roll of the dice for me as a fiction writer’. Can you tell us a little more about that – the feeling that it was now or never?

Before I wrote The Girl on the Train, I’d written four books under a pseudonym, the last of which didn’t sell at all, which was hugely disappointing and also left me in rather dire financial straits. I wanted to continue writing, and I really wanted to write a thriller, but there was a feeling that if this one didn’t work out, I was going to have to do something else: return to journalism or find a new career. So at the time it felt as though this were my last chance (although in fact even if this book hadn’t worked out, I’m sure I would have returned to fiction eventually).

If you had to pitch your book to a reader in one sentence, what would it be?

A lonely, obsessive commuter witnesses a shocking incident from her daily train journey, and finds herself drawn into a mystery from which she may not be able to escape.

What’s the last book you read and loved?

I’ve actually just re-read The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker, which is one of my all-time favourites. Before that though, I’d say All Involved by Ryan Gattis – an extraordinary, shocking thriller set during the LA riots .

What’s your favourite book from your childhood?

The Three Mulla-mulgars (The Three Royal Monkeys) by Walter de la Mare.

What books inspired you when writing your own?

When I’m writing, I try to read things that are very different from what I’m working on. I read quite a bit of non-fiction: Olivia Laing’s To The River and Emma Brockes’ She Left Me the Gun stand out. I also really enjoyed HHhH by Laurent Binet, which is a slightly fictionalised account of the plot to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich.

What TV shows (if any) inspire (or distract you from!) your writing?

There’s so much wonderful stuff on now. I’ve just finished watching Fortitude, a thriller set in the Arctic, which was bloody and brutal and quite brilliant. I like a bit of Scandi-noir. I loved The Killing and The Bridge. And I’m also a big fan of Sally Wainwright’s work – she wrote Happy Valley which was on in the UK last year – a fantastic bit of TV.

When writing a book, are you a meticulous planner or do you figure things out as you go along?

A bit of both. I need to know where I’m going – I’m not one of those people who can sit down and start writing and see where it leads them – but I don’t want to know everything at the start of a book. My favourite bits are always those ideas that come to me unexpectedly, as though they were suggested to me by the characters themselves.

Can you tell us a little about what you’re working on next?

I’m writing another thriller. This one centres on the relationship between sisters. It’s all about the stories we tell about ourselves and our families, how those stories become legend, become deeply held beliefs, how they go to make up who we are. And how they might not actually be rooted in truth at all.

You live in London – which bookstores do you recommend Australians visit on their next trip to the UK?

There are still a lot of good indies: I live in south London and have two within walking distance – Clapham Books and Herne Hill Books. There’s also a very good bookshop in Dulwich and a great second-hand bookshop – Bookmongers – in Brixton. But it all depends where you’re staying. You can find a helpful map here. Independents aside, the big Waterstones on Piccadilly is worth a visit, as is the Foyles on Charing Cross Road.