Author Guest Post

Matt Cain on the five books that shaped him as a writer

To celebrate PRIDE month and the paperback publication of his wonderfully uplifting novel The Secret Life…

What would you do if men were under Curfew?

It’s a good question, isn’t it? My novel After Dark explores what would happen if…

Writing a Split World: 99 Problems and a Unified Theory of Everything Ain’t One

I like writing weird, complicated stories. I like reading them too. It’s ultimately why I’m…

Liz Webb’s Five Favourite Marmite Characters

Hannah, the heroine of my debut novel The Daughter, has been described by some as…

Jo Harkin on the many-voiced novel

I love polyphonic fiction. I can say that now: I didn’t know until recently that…

E. Lockhart on books that are almost crime fiction

I am rather an inadvertent crime fiction writer. Though I dearly love a thriller (my…

Sinéad Crowley on the inspiration behind The Belladonna Maze

We were just finishing dinner when we heard the music. It was half past six,…

Julie Houston on the inspiration behind A Village Secret

My tenth novel, A Village Secret, was inspired by some family history of my own.…

Rachel Hancox on cooking up a novel

I learned to cook at university by the simple expedient of inviting people to dinner…

Rory Power’s top five family-based fantasy books

The thing is, I think Tolstoy almost had it right. Unhappy families are unique, yes,…

Writing inspiration: channelling the motherload

Writer and critic Cyril Connolly’s infamous pronouncement, ‘There is no more sombre enemy of good…

Jacqueline Winspear on Eleanor Roosevelt and the British Women Ferry Pilots

For twenty years I have kept a notebook with themes, ideas and events I wanted…