Midway through a podcast, author Patrick Ness begins to tap on wood, loudly, for the benefit of his listeners. The interviewer, Karachi-based writer and  voiceover artiste Mahvesh Murad has just finished asking Ness — the author of The Chaos Trilogy and Carnegie Medal winning novels Monsters of Men and A Monster Calls — how he manages to globetrot and attend literary events. In response comes the knock, along with his answer, as a sign of gratitude for his good luck.

Mahvesh Murad