Christmas for me usually starts . . . quite late – I'm a bit of a procrastinator! My husband is more organised and takes care of anything that needs to be ordered early. It's really only when we take our three children to see Santa that Christmas kicks off properly for me. The last couple of years we've gone to Winter Wonderland in Skibbereen – it's fantastic!

Last Christmas . . . Santa was asked to bring a real live baby unicorn. This year, for reasons I can't quite fathom, it's all about micro pigs.

Most years we spend Christmas . . . at home in Cork with my extended family. We take it in turns to host Christmas dinner, and people bring different courses, so nobody has to do too much cooking.

The Christmas gift I best remember from childhood . . . is a doll called Sheila that I got when I was five. I stumbled upon her recently in my children's playroom. She was remarkably unscathed after all these years: naked and missing a leg, but still possessing most of her hair.

My favourite thing about this time of year . . . is that my husband's office closes and our children get their holidays. So we have two weeks proper 'down time' with no school runs or meetings or deadlines.

It pains me when . . . tacky, rubbishy things – things that would be well nigh impossible to sell at any other time of year – have a bit of tinsel glued to them and suddenly become 'ideal Christmas gifts'. Ugh. Buy a good book instead – I highly recommend Young Skins by Colin Barrett.

I'd love if someone got me . . . Edna O'Brien reading one of her own books, she's got such a wonderful voice, or Kevin Barry reading City of Bohane.

When I open my presents on Christmas morning . . . if there isn't at least one book I'm going to be disappointed. Last year I was very happy to get 'The Spinning Heart' by Donal Ryan. And I always receive several beautiful notebooks, because all of my stories start out longhand before I transfer them to the computer.