Tell me what inspired you to write about your latest book? When I was eight, my lightkeeper Dad was posted to Tarbat Ness Lighthouse in North-east Scotland. This was the first time we’d ever lived actually at a lighthouse, and from the ages of eight to eleven it was the most amazing place to grow […]
Tell me what inspired you to write about your latest book? Liz & Kate: We were thinking about fairy tales, and how they could be inverted. So we came up with the idea of a male sleeping beauty. And then we decided to set the ‘fairy tale’ bit of the story in the past, so […]
Tell me what inspired you to write about your latest book? The weirdest of things can spark off the idea for a story. V for Violet all began with fish and chips. Or to be more precise, with me sitting at my lap top drinking tea and eating popcorn while accidentally reading about how fish […]
Tell me what inspired you to write about your latest book? The very simple answer is – death row. I’ve always found the idea of it fascinating and intriguing. What do people feel while they’re on death row? What do they think? Are they angry? Do they feel guilty? Do they think they’ll get off? […]
Tell me what inspired you to write about your latest book? It was while I was working as a news reporter in Turkey that I met Kurdish children who had fled the battle for Kobani. Meeting these tots, that had tumbled across the Syrian border, completely changed my life. They were children, just children, and […]
Tell me what inspired you to write about your latest book? After getting great feedback but no publishing deal on an earlier book, I asked my agent what publishers were looking for. She said Middle Grade fantasy was popular and I thought about this, specifically what I could bring to the table that was different. After racking my brains for […]
Where do you find inspiration for your books? It depends on the book, but my inspiration usually comes from some combination of what I’m reading, and where I am (both physically and emotionally) at that point in my life. Lately I’ve found myself going back to a lot of the fantasy classics that I enjoyed […]
Where do you find inspiration for your books? I’m not sure what triggers the initial idea for a story but they do seem to just come to me. I try to read a lot about the world we live in and I think that helps. I’m also a big film fan and have always enjoyed […]