Now that the journey to publication is a few months behind me, I’ve had more of a chance to look back on the experience of writing The Art Trip. Recently, I’ve been reflecting more on the themes from the novel – what led me to create that story in particular, what lay beneath those characters, events and settings – what I was really writing about, if you like.

That’s important for me because as I get into the business of drafting my second novel, I’m interested to decipher if I’m addressing...