Category: On Writing
Waking Isabella – How My Second Novel Came To Be
How does one come up with the idea of a novel I am often asked? That question is often followed by a second one: Once you have an idea how do you sustain it and spin it into a full-length story? For me, it all begins first and foremost with an intriguing historical anecdote. Then […]
Authors Interviewing Their Characters: Jacqueline Friedland
We asked Jacqueline Friedland if she would be willing to interview Abigal Milton, the main character of her novel TROUBLE THE WATER. Set against the vivid backdrop of Charleston twenty years before the Civil War, Trouble the Water is a captivating tale replete with authentic details about Charleston’s aristocratic planter class, American slavery, and the Underground Railroad. […]
On How Writing “The Lion Tamer Who Lost ” Opened My Eyes A Little Wider…
I recently got the advance proof of my fourth novel, The Lion Tamer Who Lost. It was just as thrilling to hold it in my trembling hand as when I received my debut book, and my second one, and even my third. Perhaps more exciting in many ways. Because this one had been a slog. […]
Searching For My Voice In An Empty Nest
“Most people who experience midlife crisis have spent their entire lives raising a family or working on a career. They haven’t had the time or the capacity to ask the important questions in life. Eventually, something triggers the question, ‘Is this all there is?’ “ Not long ago, I came across this quote by Mateo […]
On (Re)Writing Real-Life Tragedy
On (re)writing real-life tragedy Every author who comes out with a new book gets asked, “What was your inspiration for writing this story?” For Three Days Missing, it was two things that happened all at once. The first was an idea that woke me up in the middle of the night. A child goes missing […]
Why And How I Write Novels About Tough Subjects
I’m not sure when my fascination with the resiliency of the human spirit and the will to survive began, but it shows in the topics I choose for my novels. Maybe it was during my childhood trips to visit my grandparents in Germany, while listening to their stories about devastating poverty and living through WWII—how […]
From Wildlife Vet to Writer
When I was small I wanted to be an author. From the time I could hold a pen and form sentences, I knew writing was for me. By age eight, I was creating novels remarkably similar to Elyne Mitchell’s Silver Brumby series. Then, at a family gathering when I was twelve, everything changed. A brusque […]
The Magic Of Storytelling
I’ve always loved fairytales; the sense of the fantastical, the danger, the magic. When I was young, I grew up reading Grimm fairytales alongside Irish folklore, so the Children of Lir sat happily alongside Hansel and Gretel. I am happy to say that I never really outgrew my love of folk and fairytales and in […]
The Inspiration Behind Strangers On A Bridge
I have lived in various locations in Switzerland on and off for more than thirty years. The Alps certainly have their fair share of beauty for inspirational settings for a novel. Think of Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms or DH Lawrence’s Women in Love where the reader’s imagination is transported to the mountains by the sheer […]
Who’s Gonna Write Your Wild Horses?
Serendipity is a weird and wonderful beast, as you can read in the Acknowledgment of Kerry Lonsdale’s latest novel EVERYTHING WE GIVE. We’re hugely proud to have played a tiny part in the creation of the latest instalment of her stunning EVERYTHING series. About EVERYTHING WE GIVE From the author of Everything We Keep comes the final novel in […]
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