Clare Whitfield on the idea behind her dark historical crime novel People of Abandoned Character

The idea for the story, a woman who thinks she might be married to the Ripper, came from an adult education class. We were given real newspapers about the murde... Read More...

Francine Toon on the Halloween traditions that inspired her debut novel Pine

For many people, especially in England, where I now live, Halloween is just another commercial holiday, imported from America. The idea of kids on a sugar high,... Read More...

Stacey Halls on the Bloomsbury children’s hospital that inspired The Foundling

In March 2016 I’d just finished writing the first draft of The Familiars. With an afternoon to myself in London, I decided to tick off one of the things I’d mea... Read More...

Victoria Hislop on Makronisos – the Greek island that inspired Those Who Are Loved

For me inspiration for a story always arrives at a very specific moment when I see a place that literally makes my hairs stand on end. It’s quite useful to have... Read More...

Sophie Cousens’ Top Ten Rom Coms

There’s something timeless about a good romantic comedy – they cheer us when we’re down, their worldview is generally optimistic, and they make us believe in lo... Read More...

Alison Weir: Ramping up the proclamations – how Henry VIII dealt with epidemics

Forget one metre. Henry VIII’s idea of social distancing was seven miles. When he married his fifth wife, Katheryn Howard, in the hot, dry summer of 1540, there... Read More...

Silvia Moreno-Garcia on the real life town that inspired Mexican Gothic

One time I was asked during an interview whether it really rained in Mexico City as much as I said it did in one of my novels. It does rain and in fact parts of... Read More...

Three cards from The Deck of Omens that didn’t make it into the book

From the beginning, I knew I wanted there to be a deck of tarot-esque cards in The Devouring Gray duology, and I also knew that I wanted them to be a major worl... Read More...

Rosanne Hodin on the “tales from the good life” that inspired her memoir Growing Goats and Girls

We are leaving the farm, leaving two daughters behind, to volunteer in Africa. For three years. One manages a weak smile, “We’ll be looking at the same moon.” B... Read More...

Martin Edwards’ top ten thrillers

A good thriller makes a reader feel tense, anxious, and perhaps afraid. The thrills may accompany a mystery about character or a puzzle about motive – as in my ... Read More...

Menna van Praag on the real-world fairytales that inspired The Sisters Grimm and why we’re so enchanted by them

The Sisters Grimm was born with my daughter. I’d never directly approached writing or re-writing fairy tales before, but they’d always seeped unbidden into my w... Read More...

Fiona Collins on the nostalgia of classic movies

It can all get a bit much, can’t it, modern life – technology, politicians, the planet, trying to keep on keeping on with it all? Sometimes you just want to esc... Read More...