In the last twelve months I have spoken at around thirty festivals, book shops and literary events. Occasionally I attend these events with one or more of my children – often because of childcare issues, but sometimes because it looks like it’s going to be a fun trip. Right now I’m on holiday with my […]
Writing
I Let You Go heads to Wales
Given the setting of much of I Let You Go, it was lovely to spend a couple of days visiting book shops in south west Wales at the weekend. I took the train from London, having spent the previous evening at the brilliant Crime in the Court, hosted by Goldsboro Books, and fell in love […]
Should fiction be accurate?
Novels come from an author’s imagination. They are the printed (or digital) product of days and weeks and sometimes years of glorious day-dreaming, created so that readers, too, can disappear into this make-believe story for a few hours or days. But should fiction be accurate? In the last few weeks I’ve been fortunate to receive […]
How books are made
Last week I went to Clays in Suffolk to find out how books are made, and to watch the paperback of I Let You Go being printed. It was a fascinating and incredibly emotional day, and if you are an author and ever have the chance to see your book being made, I’d wholeheartedly recommend […]
Why I'm supporting CLIC Sargent's Get In Character auction
Would you like to see your name as a character in a book? Could this be the perfect gift for a partner or best friend? Perhaps you’d love to see someone’s namesake come to a sticky end… Children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent’s annual Get in Character auction is now on, offering you the chance to bid […]
Throwaway words
I haven’t blogged for a while. I’ve had my head down, working on a rewrite of my second book, which means Christmas and New Year passed in a bit of a blur. For three months I got up at five to write before the school run, stayed at my desk all day, and returned to […]