The Forbidden Queen

A WRITER’S LIFE

Paper and pen or straight on to the computer?

Straight on to the computer but I also keep a notebook and pen to hand. I write notes on images and scenes, conversations between the characters, anything that comes to mind—they tend to appear at the most inopportune times. Sometimes I rough out whole scenes by hand but only with the bare minimum of detail.

PC or laptop?

PC, but I have recently been won over by the value of a laptop when I am travelling by train. I have no excuse for not continuing my plotting.

Music or silence?

Silence when I’m first putting scenes and plots together. When I’m reviewing or redrafting or polishing towards the end of a novel I listen to music. Baroque choral works for me when I’m writing.

Morning or night?

Definitely morning. I am not a night person.

Coffee or tea?

Tea first thing in the morning—then coffee.

Your guilty reading pleasure?

A book, a glass of wine and music—often choral but might equally be folk or symphonic—before a wood fire in my cottage.

The first book you loved?

The first adult historical novel I remember reading as a young girl was The Passionate Brood by Margaret Campbell Barnes, which focused on the children of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. I recall being drawn into the richness of the period, the emotion of the characters and the drama of the lives of the Plantagenets. It has been re-issued and I was pleased to find that the charm still existed. My pleasure in this genre has stayed with me ever since.

The last book you read?

I have just finished reading Hilary Mantel’s Bringing Up The Bodies. Marvellous!