One of the things that readers might not realise about writing memoir is the incredible amount of emotional investment involved. Even in a largely humorous series like the Mad Cow in Galicia, reliving the experiences in my mind in order to write about them has taken me through a whole range of emotional responses, including nostalgia, guilt, sadness, joy, embarrassment... Phew! It's really quite a rollercoaster of a journey, and I'm always exhausted by the end.