A cup of tea to toast late literary success

Writer Marian Keyes will not be toasting her literary success with a glass of champagne.

After winning her battle against alcoholism, the 33-year-old Dubliner never touches the stuff. These days, Marian prefers a nice cup of tea and that was what she ordered at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southhampton.

Marian discovered her talent for writing relatively late in life. After studying law at university, she turned her back on a legal career to work as an accountant.

Watermelon was published in 1995 and established Marian as a popular paperback author after selling more than 100,000 copies. Like Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, the book was fresh and witty- the kind of book which is perfect for along hot day on the beach or a cold winter afternoon snuggled up on the sofa.

With her striking Irish looks and soft lilting accent, Marian does not look like the kind of woman who would hit the bottle and she still cannot fathom that one out herself.

Marian's parents stepped in and she was admitted to a recovery centre in Ireland.

Last year, Marian got married to long-time friend Tony who sat quietly but attentively through our interview. The couple will shortly be moving to Ireland where Marian will complete her third book.

"I live a far fuller life now than I ever did when I lived with alcohol," she said sipping her drink.

"Sometimes I dream about it but they were always really sad dreams where I feel like I am drowning."

"People ask me if my writing has filled in the gap but there is no comparison. Drinking was an escape clause. Writing is not and I have to do a lot of emotional digging."

"I was living in London working in an office and I spent my whole day using figures and doing sums. It could not have been more different from writing really."

"A lot of writers try for years to get published and it takes great guts to do that. I cannot claim I was gutsy, I was just lucky. I sent some short stories off pretending in a letter I was working on a novel. The publishers wrote back and asked for the novel manuscript so I kind of panicked and wrote the first few chapters of Watermelon," she said.

"My books are about real people and the thing I enjoy the most is writing the dialogue. I have always felt like an outsider which, as I know only too well, can be a lonely place to be as a writer.

"I wanted my books to be spiky and real. Life is not always easy and I wanted that acknowledged. People don't always get the relationship they want or the life they want but that is just the way it is."

"I don't really think it helps to look for answers and for me, it certainly wasn't because I was screwed up anyway. I came from a very happy, stable, middle class home. My parents did not drink."

"I had my first drink when I was 14. I didn't take to it straight away but I knew immediately this could become an ally to make me feel like everyone else. For most of my twenties, the drinking was a social thing and I was not aware of it. My dependency was more slow and insidious. Colleagues and friends started saying things but it was like a compulsion."

"The turning point came when I was suffering from a terrible, savage depression and I tried to kill myself. It was a cry for help."

"When I finished drinking, I had the emotions of a teenager because I had never coped with the responsibilities of life. One of the things that has helped me most, is getting through the painful times on my own. The writing has also helped. The best thing of all is getting letters from people who enjoyed my book."

"I always fear that my writing will just run out but two-and-a-half years down the line, I am still going strong and enjoying every minute. Life is great now."