Author Guest Post

The Scarlet Pimpernel: Giving a voice to background characters

In popular fiction, it can be argued that the content is governed by two main…

5 SFF Books Featuring Memorable Mothers

Characters in speculative fiction don’t fit just one profile—they can come in any gender, ethnicity,…

Kate Foster on the real life inspiration behind The Maiden

Some of the stories we learn as children remain with us throughout our lives. As…

Emma Orchard: Why I Love Heyer

Aged eleven, I was given tickets for the adult library. I’d read all the children’s…

How can there be two alternative versions of the truth?

This was a question I wanted to explore in my second novel The Lodger, and…

How a 17th century herbalist’s home inspired The Hemlock Cure

Hidden in the Derbyshire Dales, in a hollow where the crags of the Dark Peak meet the…

Alison Booth on the inspiration behind Bellevue

My latest novel Bellevue is set in a place that is dear to my heart…

Claudia Carroll on turning fact to fiction

You know when you open up the fly-leaf of any book, and read a discreet disclaimer…

Livi Michael: When Memory Becomes Toxic

7.pm. I’m relaxing by watching TV. At this time in the evening my attention tends…

Kate Spencer on romanticising New York

There is nothing inherently romantic about living in New York City. It’s a place that…

Gareth Worthington: Time and Time, again

Time is perhaps the one thing that unifies us all—our workday, our family moments, our…

Hail the peacekeepers: Putting the mothers centre stage

When I decided to reimagine Romeo and Juliet and set it in a modern-day West…