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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Rich Pelley

Charlie Higson: ‘I hope to be so unwound I can just lie on the sofa’

Charlie Higson sitting on steps in denim jacket
Charlie Higson: ‘I always wait until my wife is in the room before I empty the dishwasher.’ Photograph: John Lawrence/Shutterstock

​​Up early or lie-in? My wife leans towards the idea that one ought to be up and about, so she usually gets fed up, as I’ve always preferred to stay in bed.

Sunday breakfast? My perfect Sunday is sitting at the table, light coming through the glass roof of the kitchen, reading the Sunday papers, with a bowl of granola, toast with marmalade, a glass of kombucha, not being disturbed. I can just about manage that these days.

Work? As a writer, you do have to make sure you carve out time to not work. Having procrastinated all week, it’s Friday that is the day to get it all absolutely done.

Lunch? When the kids were here, we maintained a proper Sunday roast. Now it’s a good way of enticing them home: they can’t refuse the offer of a big lunch.

Sunday afternoon? We live near Hampstead Heath, so if it’s a nice day, we’ll be out with everybody else in north London. Or else my wife will push to go to an exhibition.

Housework? I’ve fallen into the cliché of being up a ladder, replacing lightbulbs. If you take a Zen approach to housework, it passes eventually. I always wait until my wife is in the room to empty the dishwasher.

Sundays growing up? I have three brothers so there were a lot of boys around the table – something I recreated with my own family, though there tends to be more wine.

Sunday unwind? All of Sunday is unwinding. Later, you hope to be so unwound you can lie on the sofa, doing absolutely nothing.

Monday mornings? I love every day of the week, so Mondays I love because I always do work I enjoy. It’s up the stairs to my office and away I go.

Charlie Higson & Friends series two podcast is out now. Whatever Gets You Through the Night is published by Little, Brown

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