I had a great, whirlwind time translating The Three Musketeers. Obviously it's an unstoppable, wonderful piece of storytelling - d'oh, everyone knows and loves it, don't they, even if , like me before I started it, they've only seen the film or cartoon version. But I hadn't realised how autobiographical it was, and so Tom Reiss's biography The Black Count came as a revelation.

The incredible story of Dumas' father, the son of a Haitian slave and a French aristocrat, who remains the highest-ranking mixed-race officer in a European army ever;  the extent to which Dumas' novels are a homage to this general who died when Dumas was only three and a half; Dumas himself setting out for Paris, like d'Artagnan, at the age of twenty one, with no money and only a few tenuous introductions, determined to make it as a writer... 

All The Three Musketeers' autobiographical elements only made me admire its universal appeal even more - how funny it is, how joyous as a portrait of being young, how irresistible its celebration of friendship, loyalty and self-respect etc. It's not easy giving that much entertainment to that many people, is it, especially when you're writing three other books at the same time - keep up everybody! So, as I say, I had a great, whirlwind time.

Finishing it, I started to think of ways to mark the experience. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Dumas' books are part of Black History Month, but exploring that was one thing that occurred to me. The other was raising money for charities like The Access Project. 

They do an incredible job helping people who are set on going to university, even if this makes them the exception rather than the rule in their families and schools. They match them up with tutors, mentor them and generally behave like M. de Tréville when he takes d'Artagnan under his wing after his arrival in Paris. It's very wonderful what they do, I think, and very Dumasian. I hope you feel the same and would like to support them too. Thanks so much for coming to my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.