Questions and answers…


I’m breaking my usual rules and using a picture of me, because people said I should. After a year of practice, I can manage a half-decent shot, but I think it’s clear that I’m not part of the selfie generation. First of all, thanks to everyone who was interested enough to ask how and why I write. The answer is very, very simple. I love stories, and people fascinate me. I have to write first and then research afterwards because otherwise I’d get lost in the research and nothing would ever get written.

I spent some of my formative years in places where there wasn’t television, but there were libraries, and my parents were happy for me to read anything I fancied, safe in the knowledge that the bits that were too adult would float gracefully over the top of my head. Which they did, and I got quite a surprise when I reread them as a teenager.

I grew up in a time where parents didn’t see ‘entertainment manager’ as being part of their job, so we made up our own games, and I’d go down to the library, pick up a batch of books and read, and read and read. I’m not an extrovert. I don’t like huge crowds. A quiet spot by the sea with a notebook, a pen, my Kindle, a cold drink, and an ice cream in easy walking distance is my idea of a perfect day out. Sometimes I take my piecing or embroidery too, and always my camera because it helps that I’m within walking distance of a beautiful harbour that’s also a site of special scientific interest. I can sit and watch the boats and the birds and watch people coming and going, and I’m happy.

I write anywhere. The garden, in cafes, at the kitchen table or in the living room. I do a lot of it in my head and wait for it to be ready to go on paper and then it comes quickly. If not, then tidying the sock drawer works for me too.

It does feel odd writing about this, but I always like to know what my favourite writers do, so it’s an enormous compliment that people ask. So that leads me on to what I read, which is eclectic. I like science fiction and time travel by Jodi Taylor, who writes the most amazing characters. I like Mark Hayden and Kim M Watt, whose Beaufort Scales books always make me smile and who shares my views on the importance of cake. I love the older writers like Elizabeth Goudge, D E Stevenson and Lucilla Andrews for romance and views of everyday life as written at the time. Being more modern, Philippa Ashley is off-the-wall fun, with larger-than-life characters that are perfect for escape.

For thrillers, again, it’s the older writers I come back to again and again. Anthony Price. The master, Alistair MacLean, whose characters are so real. Helen MacInnes for diplomatic thrillers. I don’t like books where the women are there as wallpaper or where there’s too much violence and meaningless sex. Yes, I’m old-fashioned, but I want it to matter to people and for people to be changed by violence. I’m also fascinated by the way that spying affects people’s lives. At least if you’re in the Forces, people know what you’re doing in general terms, but not everyone who works for British Intelligence can be an orphan.

I also like Elizabeth Chadwick’s historical novels because I’m an unashamed William Marshall fangirl, and research is always fun. I’ve learned all sorts of useful and less useful so far skills from that, and I promise I don’t go round a supermarket or DIY shop while working out what I could use to kill or injure people. Or at least not too often, and it was Roald Dahl’s fault for murdering someone with a frozen leg of lamb.

So there’s the first set of answers. There’ll be more on Tuesday, and on Friday, the recipe section will go live. I hope I haven’t bored you too much as I celebrate the fourth anniversary of my Kindle publication by listening to the most important people of all. My wonderful readers who make my dreams come true! Thank you more than I can say, and see you soon. (Oh, and the next Esther and the Professor comes out on Thursday, and the next year’s one is coming well…)