How a phone call from Boris inspired me to write Anatomy of a Scandal

News of the Anatomy of a Scandal billboards on Sunset Boulevard sits in my DMs while I shepherd my teens through the preschool chaos. It’s the morning I drive my youngest to school. ‘Have you seen my goggles?’ he calls, while I covertly flick to the Insta app on my phone and see that one of the executive producers of the Netflix show based on my thriller has sent me four messages. My heart trips. I may have written an international bestselling novel developed by the Big Little Lies dream team, but imposter syndrome rages; my default response that I’m about to be found out. Only, there they are: photos of vast billboards depicting the series’ leads – Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery, Rupert Friend, Naomi Scott, and Josette Simon – looking suitably noirish against a hazy LA sky. It’s the latest in a series of discombobulating moments, but I haven’t time to dwell on it.