In the promotional cassette which Orion sent out ahead of publication you talk about a 'fierce fascination' with Arthur. When did that set in??

Arthur was like Beowulf in relation to the Anglo-Saxons. Arthur in relation to the whole world of traditional tales. There are so many roads and signposts saying 'To Arthur' you can't possibly escape it or him. After all, when we talk about Arthur we're talking about a huge body of material in dozens of European languages. He wasn't just an English or Welsh hero, although he was certainly both of those. He was the first truly pan-European hero. Like the Bible or Greek mythology it is a huge grab-bag of stories which embody understandings of what it's like to be alive, the sort of models for our behaviour. That's how Caxton, who first printed Malory, saw the world of Arthur.

There are so many books about Arthur and so many that are so dreadful, that part of one fights shy of engaging with the Arthurian world. Also, how is one to engage with it in a way that is new and interesting and valuable, being true to its sources yet saying something that is worthwhile. It wasn't a conscious waiting until now, but I'm glad that I did wait.

You're careful to put sources in the back of your anthologies. To what extent early on did you set out to be careful to keep notes and records...

I think it comes from having a father who was a scholar. He went from the BBC to become head of music for the University of California in Los Angeles. I've taught quite often in universities so there's a scholar manque inside me. I used to follow a principle that's been outlined by a friend of mine very simply, Richard Barber, the Arthurian scholar, who said you should read and read and read, research, research and research and then shut the books. I think that's right. If you're going to write a historical novel or enter the world of traditional tale, you must understand the tree from which such stories spring, but there must also be a moment when you stop the research, close your eyes and imagine, and make it your own. I think the other thing that I always liked by way of a little dictum - I've got it stuck up above my desk - is Jill Paton Walsh's idea that in an historical novel you can include the not-know-too-be-true but you cannot include the known-not-to-be-true. I think that that's right, and that it's irresponsible to just weigh in cheerfully without doing the thinking and the planning and the understanding, for which reason that part of my work is the most substantial in terms of time.

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