Martina Cole first made headlines in 1992 when her debut bestselling novel Dangerous Lady was bought by Headline for a then record-breaking advance. Eighteen years on and sixteen novels later Martina Cole is a phenomenon.

With each new book she smashes her own sales records as well as everyone else’s: she was the bestselling British female novelist of 2009 and the only fiction author to knock Dan Brown from his No.1 position on the Bestseller Lists last autumn when Hard Girls was published in hardback.

Introducing her latest novel, The Family, Martina Cole talks to Guardian columnist Erwin James, followed by questions from the audience.