It may be because I had a career in academia, and even now spend half my week as a director of an innovation company, that my writing includes a significant amount of research. In fact it is the most interesting part, in my view. Previously my books have involved archaeological topics that have required me to consult not only books but also experts in their fields. For example, I had a valuable discussion with one such expert on chariot burials who assured me I wouldn’t discover one in Wensleydale – against his better judgement Mills Sanderson did just that. My “work in progress” has required me to research the use of drugs among university students and I was interested to read a recent survey of UK students by the NUS that found there were more than 2,000 incidents last year of "student misconduct for possession of drugs", recorded by universities. Other topics are less exciting, such as the train timetable for travel to Skipton, and this year’s  Welsh Rugby fixtures – for Nige Featherstone’s benefit of course!