What made you write Thin?

At its simplest, I wanted to write and this was what came out. It was very much a stop-start process - I fell in and out with writing it - but in the end I found I had a manuscript and a friend convinced me to take it further. I thought I had something different to say - or perhaps something different in the way I was saying it - which I thought could add something to the already-raging debates on eating disorders. I knew that for people trying to get better, and their friends and family, by providing a story to identify with, it could help. And I felt passionately that there shouldn't be a stigma about a mental and emotional health issue, which for some reason does exists. I wanted to break that by speaking up about it.

How long did it take you to write Thin?

It was about four years. But it was very much an on/off process. The main bulk of the work was converting a long piece of writing into a book, which would make sense for people, other than it being simply something for myself.

Why did you change the title from A Shape of My Own to Thin?

Thinness is such a topical issue at the moment. The pressure on women to conform to a certain shape is immense. One size does not fit all. The theme of the book remains focused on finding an individual shape away from that pressure and so-called perfection. But Thin sums up the place and time we are in and I want to question that word and all that it means.

What kind of reaction have you had from people who have read Thin?

Quite overwhelming. It was a big decision to share the story in the first place. It wasn't to be cathartic. It was an attempt to show what mental illness feels like through narrative and to offer insights for others. So many people have said that they identify, and none of those have been people who have suffered from eating disorders. My book is very much about a normal girl's experience of growing up, and the turbulence of going through teenage years and early twenties. I'm glad it has provoked a reaction. It needs to get people to react, and to be moved to get across its message. It's not about quietly hiding a story, but sharing it to make sense of it for others.

What are you presently working on?

Since I finished Thin last year, I've been working on my first novel, and that is the long-term goal. For the short term I'm writing more on eating disorders, thinness, self-esteem and wider issues which are of particular relevance to young women.

I've also started a programme of talks at schools and hospitals to try and talk about my experience of anorexia, in the hope to enlighten pupils, parents and doctors about the underlying issues. My talks focus on ways to raise self-esteem and hope to improve understanding about eating disorders, that they are not about food, but that they are about feelings. I want to encourage girls and women to think of themselves than more than a body shape and to have goals and ambitions beyond the scales.