THERE ARE TASKS THAT A literary editor approaches with some resignation. I couldn’t possibly reveal what they are, but I can assure you – hand on heart – that preparing our special edition for The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival is not one. This is the third time that we have had the privilege, and I trust that there are many more to come.

The festival seems only to get bigger and better every year – 70,000 tickets have already been sold. But I am more than happy to say that I loved going to Cheltenham long before it became our festival – although I don’t doubt that this fine newspaper brings a special sparkle to things. I very much hope that you can make it there yourself this year, but if you can’t, you can get a flavour of things here – not only this week, but next, too.

I always like to be involved in the festival myself, and this year I’m glad to say that I have a lot on. Will Margaret Atwood be at the festival or not? She will – thanks to the wonders of her LongPen and I’ll make the Cheltenham-to-Toronto link on October 11. I will also be fascinated to meet Paul Broks, the neuropsychologist author of Into the Silent Land (Atlantic, £8.99, offer £8.54), an intriguing book about what goes on inside our skulls – we’ll also discuss my own book on October 14. To some degree my novel Seizure (Faber, £10.99, offer £9.89) draws on the experience of temporal lobe epilepsy, which affected me when I was young, so I have always been keen to consider how the brain affects the mind . . . and the other way round.

I am also lucky enough to have found a partner in the wonderful singer and story-teller Nick Hennessey – who shares my fascination with the traditional ballads whose tales run through my novel. We performed together at The Sage Gateshead and the Ilkley Festival of Literature – I read and Nick sings, and my favourite part is when I get just to sit there listening to him. Maybe you have never heard the stories of love, loss and longing sung in Tam Lin, The Demon Lover, or Reynardine – or maybe you love them as much as I do. Either way, it’s worth hearing them in Nick’s voice (on October 13).

Here’s hoping we see you there!

Find out more about the festival at timesonline.co.uk/cheltenhamlitfest

PLUS Read Erica Wagner’s short story ‘In Time’

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