Dreams
The morning is Jamila's 'golden hour' where she is desperate to catch the precious time between sleeping and waking. She feels that dreams reflect how you see the world and she keeps a notebook by her bed to write down all her dreams before she forgets them.

Music and 'Coram Boy'
Jamila's love of stories is surpassed only by her passion for music. She is a brilliant pianist and we see her playing whilst reflecting on the significance of music in her stories - especially Coram Boy. She tells us how 'Coram Boy' was stimulated by a remark made by a friend who told her that the highways and byways of England are littered with the bones of little children. This shocked her and her research led her to the Coram man, resulting in the shocking adventure/thriller of Coram Boy.

We see her in an ancient cathedral listening to the choristers and walking along the cloisters, where she meets the ghostly image of Meshak. It is through Meshak's tragic eyes that much of the story of the 'Coram Boy' is told. She explains that most often in her writing, she finds herself caught up as a character in the story, experiencing the passion and excitement for herself, and that this experience may shift the way the story goes.

Her Grandfather and Grandpa Chatterji
The programme contains dramatised extracts from 'Grandpa Chatterji', a story based on Jamila's much-loved grandfather. She tells us about him as she wanders around an Asian supermarket and explains how he, like Grandpa Chatterji, could make a wonderful Indian feast out of nothing.

Hard work
Although Jamila demonstrates the effects of the 'Wheel of Life' on her writing, she explains to children that only 10% of her stories are inspiration and the other 90% is hard work, research and perspiration. This hard work paid off when she was awarded the Whitbread Prize for 'Coram Boy', which she feels is her best work to date.