Ten Questions: Elaine Dirollo

ELAINE DIROLLO, 40, is an author. Her first novel, The Peachgrowers' Almanac, has just been published

1 What is your earliest memory of Edinburgh? I remember coming up from England to go to university and wondering why all these people were wandering about beside a strange black spaceship. It turned out that this was the Cameron Toll shopping centre.

2 What are your memories of school? I went to Ormskirk Grammar School in Lancashire and my memories are of numerous bouts of detention, endless writing out of lines and six years of effortless mediocrity on my part.

3 Where is your favourite place in Edinburgh and why? I love my flat in Morningside because I only moved in three weeks ago and still feel excited. Another favourite place is the National Library. I spent years there working on my PhD and still have fond memories.

4 What are the best things about Edinburgh? The number 23 bus and the libraries deserve a mention.

5 What would you change about the city? I would reduce the price of parking tickets in the city centre and would reinstate the suburban railway line. I'd also encourage people to say "hello" more. Many people in Edinburgh are too stuck up to smile at strangers.

6 Describe a perfect Edinburgh day/night out. A walk in the hills followed by a fish supper from the chippy opposite the medical school. I'd enjoy a pint or two of warm 80/- and then head home to read a book.

7 Which sports interest you? I'm puzzled by synchronised swimming – whose idea was it and why would anyone do it? I'm also fascinated by bowls – there are little bowling clubs all over the city, green and pleasant between the tenements, where old men in flannel trousers stand about on well-tended lawns. These places can't last forever and property developers wait on the sidelines like wolves.

8 What was your most embarrassing moment? Getting drunk in a field outside Ormskirk aged 15 with the vicar's daughter. She remained sober and I had to be taken home by the vicar. I made a terrible mess of his car.

9 What is your greatest achievement? I'm not sure.

10 Sum up Edinburgh in three words. Overpriced but irresistible.