Frances Wood is Head of the Chinese Department at the British Library. She is also the author of, among other books, Did Marco Polo Go to China?, No Dogs and Not Many Chinese: A History of the Treaty Ports, The Silk Road and The First Emperor of China.

Mark Thwaite: What gave you the idea for The First Emperor of China?

Frances Wood: I have long been fascinated by the way the Chinese look at their history and the way that they tend to divide historical figures into 'good' and 'bad'. The First Emperor has been considered a very 'bad' person for over 2000 years. On somewhat shaky evidence and, with an important exhibition coming up at the British Museum, I hoped it was a good time to re-write some of the negative history. I hoped that the exhibition will stimulate interest in the Emperor himself, not just his grave goods.

MT: How long did it take you to write your book Frances?

FW: Not very long. I work full-time at the British Library and mostly have to work at weekends, family permitting. I started in January this year but I did take a couple of weeks off work in March in order to finish it by the end of March.

MT: Is interest in Chinese history and culture growing because of the increasingly dominant role of China in the world today?

FW: I hope so. We don't yet know realy how much interest there is in Chinese history, though there's certainly a huge amount of interest in learning the Chinese language. History and culture are very important as the Chinese are proud of both. What I love about Chinese history and culture are the differences in everything from the significance of colours- the First Emperor chose black as his emblematic colour and white has been used in Chinese funerals for centuries, to the differences in scale- Hadrian's versus the Great Wall, the Grand Canal versus the Grand Union canal...

MT: You rhetorically ask about the emperor, "unifier or destroyer, law-maker or tyrant?" What is your short answer to this question?

FW: Unifier and law-maker.

MT: How do you write? Longhand or directly onto a computer, straight off or with lots and lots of editing?

FW: After a lot of reading and photocopying and marking pages, straight on to the computer and praying that I don't have to do too much editing, though critical eyes are always welcome.

MT: What were the principle challenges of writing The First Emperor of China Frances?

FW: In this book, the principal challenge was not to confuse readers with lots and lots of unpronounceable and unmemorable Chinese names. I tried to keep the narrative clean and clear and use epithets or titles (Prime Minister, Counsellor etc) rather than proper names. Even I get rather daunted by the typical traditional style of Chinese history, 'When Duke Wen of Liang met Duke Wu of Lu, he said to Duke Zhou of Shang that he hadn't seen Zhuge Liang or Gongsun Long for ages' etc!

MT: What do you do when you are not writing and teaching?

FW: I read. Preferably books on China, especially 19th-20th century accounts by explorers and residents but really anything on China. Otherwise biography, history, detective fiction.

MT: Did you have an idea in your mind of your "ideal" reader? Did you write specifically for them?

FW: My friends, or anyone interested in history and China.

MT: What are you working on now?

FW: I'm writing and translating captions and essays for a huge book on the collection of Chinese 'export paintings' in the British Library - we have hundreds of these charming paintings, made in China from the late 18th century to the early 20th century as souvenirs, almost like photographs or postcards for foreign ships' captains and, later, tourists. I'm working with an academic colleague in London and one in Peking and it is a complex business to produce captions and information that will be of use both to Chinese and Western readers whose backgrounds and knowledge are very different.

MT: Who is your favourite writer? What is/are your favourite book(s)?

FW: S.J. Perelman, the American humourist who travelled in the Far East a bit but who makes me howl with laughter no matter what he is writing about. Funny books are very important to me: I've just re-read Muriel Spark's Memento Mori which was extremely funny and I very much like J.G. Farrell, especially Troubles. I was reading that in a Saturday morning philosophy class at Peking University (under the desk) and got to the bit where an old lady drops porridge into the ear of a fat ginger cat when I looked up, laughing, to hear the teacher say, 'And then (sob) Lenin died...' A new discovery is David Sedaris who is nearly as funny as Perelman. Try the story Six or Eight Black Men.

MT: Do you have any tips for the aspiring writer!?

FW: It is difficult to offer tips because everyone is different. I really love research and then writing- the feeling of gathering things together and setting them down, making them comprehensible and interesting (one hopes), for me it is a pleasure. So I suppose I'd suggest that people relax and try and enjoy the process. And not necessarily to beware the displacement process- the slow cup of coffee, a sudden urge to bring the washing in even though it isn't raining. You do have to think and let things mature in your head.

MT: Anything else you would like to say?

FW: Books are wonderful things and I hope I never have to read them on a little plastic screen. I like books that can survive abuse, a little food sprinked here and there and the occasional swim in the bath water.