“In March 2016, with spectacular naivety, I began writing. To this day, I don’t know how but by September I’d completed a novel. Bet won and a tick on a bucket list. I could never have imagined it would become a full-time career.”
Questions and answers from world-builders, character-designers and story-makers
“If I get stuck and get ‘writer’s block’, it’s my mind’s way of telling me I’ve gone wrong somewhere with the story.”
“Drawing mind maps helps me far more than simply writing lists on paper or on a computer screen. I find it especially helpful when I am first thinking about a new story.”
“I try to write everything down, but sometimes I realize I hadn’t thought through a certain system in the world, so I have step back and write down every single detail, most of which won’t show up in the book.”
“Don’t get it right, get it written”
“Worldbuilding is absolutely my thing, and it’s more a joy than a challenge.”
“I’m very interested in toxic masculinity, and I feel like everything I write – poetry and fiction – has an eye on wanting to get to the bottom of it.”
“Empathising with people who don’t think like I do is one of the hardest—and most rewarding—parts of writing fiction.”
“Even with the veil of fiction, even transfigured through the eyes of my characters, it’s difficult to write about that which truly scares you or hurts you.”
“That good and evil are often a matter of where you stand. That violence is utterly destructive for both victim and perpetrator, but at the same time has a glamour that fascinates us. That wizardly mentors do not necessarily have the best interests of the world at heart…”
“Roam the countryside, if I get the chance, or travel further afield. Routine isn’t great for the imagination, and a change of scenery always gets you out of a rut, so to speak.”
“Sometimes the logical thing to do is the hardest thing: killing off a character, acts of betrayal, making mistakes which have dire consequences - allowing my children to leave the nest and live their own life is probably how my abilities are most tested.”
“I try to reflect the true cost of heroism in my work, which is often high and doesn’t involve much in the way of rewards.”
“More often than not I find myself writing about civilians forced by circumstance to solve crimes. “Ordinary people experiencing the worst day of their lives””
“I have a million ideas. The difficult part is deciding which of those ideas are the right ones for me.”
“Many authors speak of outlining a story with all the basic ideas and story lines. I just sat down and started writing. The characters and stories flowed like a faucet almost faster than I could put them on the screen.”
“Pretty much all my stories have one thing in common, an underdog. I don’t know why I love that archetype so much, but so far all my MCs have been drastically underestimated, sometimes by others, and often by themselves”
“Good characters make stories interesting. They’re where the gold is at.”
“Keeping ideas fresh is always an obstacle, of course, as well as the amount of research required when taking inspiration from certain mythologies.”
“I live life. I laugh, I cry, I travel, I keep my eyes and ears open and always carry a notebook and pen!”
“It’s not always easy to fathom the mind of a serial killer though, or indeed accurately portray the inner voice of a thirty year old woman when you’re neither.”
“I'm not sure I do fully overcome the challenges, I think I try and find a way around them.”
“I find myself talking to them, arguing with them, walking around with them beside me.”
“Even if you can barely squeak out a paragraph. Don’t worry about editing and making things perfect. Just write”
“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp.”
“I think that was his way of telling me I was a terrible actor.”