Author Interviews

21 July 2022

An open letter to Author Helen Dore Boylston by Suzanne Fortin

Dear Helen Dore Boylston I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Sue Barton books when I was younger. I was introduced to the series by my ...

21 July 2022

Seven things you should know about being a nurse in the 1940s by Patricia and Robert Malcolmson

The wartime diary of Kathleen Johnstone, A Nurse’s War: A diary of hope and heartache on the home front (HarperNorth, 2022), which we edited, presents a vivid picture of one ...

21 July 2022

Seven things I'd like my readers to know about me by Erica James, author of Mothers and Daughters

I grew up on the south coast of England, a stone’s throw from the sea, and that is where I’ve set my latest novel Mothers and Daughters. With the beach ...

20 July 2022

Author Sophie Green discusses her new book Thursdays at Orange Blossom House

In early 1993, I went to my first yoga class. It was in a church hall on the north shore of Sydney, at the top of my very long street ...

20 July 2022

How a visit to Paris made my story come to life by Natasha Lester

The Riviera House is about a group of people working to save precious artworks from the Nazis during WWII in Paris. It opens with the famous Louvre museum being emptied, ...

20 July 2022

An open letter to Isabel Allende by Abi Oliver author of Letter From A Tea Garden

Dear Isabel, At the beginning of lockdown, a friend sent me a piece you had written on your feelings about the times facing us, and it spoke to me. I ...

18 July 2022

Liv Arnold, author of Stepping Stone writes an open letter to Meredith Wild

Dear Ms Wild, Or may I call you Meredith because you started following me on Instagram? I was so excited; I showed my phone screen to my friends. Since 2013, ...

14 July 2022

A J Campbell, author of The Phone Call writes and open letter to Agatha Christie

Dear Dame Agatha, Queen of Crime, I recall so vividly the moment I first heard your name. It was in my final English lesson at primary school. I was chewing ...

14 July 2022

Anna Friend discusses her new book How Will It Be With Baby and Me?

When I was pregnant with my second child, I noticed that my eldest son Jack was asking questions about what would happen when the baby came along; Things like: ‘Where ...

14 July 2022

Lucinda Hart, author of The Broken Air writes an open letter to John Harding

Dear John Harding, I was reluctant to take on the first of your books I read. My mother and I were in Waterstones looking for my birthday presents, and she ...

12 July 2022

Seven things I'd like my readers to know about me by Kimberly Unger, author of The Extractionist

The first thing you have to know is that I am comprised of 50% bullsh*t, 25% snappy patter, 10% coffee and an additional 15% pop culture. In fact, take everything ...

11 July 2022

An open letter to Enid Blyton, by Sue Stockdale, author of EXPLORE: A Life of Adventure

Dear Enid, First and foremost, I want to say thank you. Your Famous Five and Secret Seven books taught me that anyone can transform an ordinary day out with friends ...

11 July 2022

Why I'm supporting Grief Encounter through The Dragon in The Bookshop by Ewa Jozefkowicz

Sometimes there's a single day that sticks with you for decades after it's happened, and you live through it already knowing that things will never be quite the same again. ...

8 July 2022

The Dream Murderer Cycle: An Interview With Author Paul Taffinder

Psychologist Dr Paul Taffinder is already a bestselling, award-winning author in the business field, where he is respected as one of the UK’s leading experts on leadership. He is also ...

7 July 2022

Why libraries are a space of refuge for authors by Ania Bas

When I moved to the UK, I spent the first few years living in the West Midlands where I found a job in a small library on the outskirts of ...

7 July 2022

Natasha Devon discusses female friendships to celebrate her new book Toxic

It took the observation of an outsider for me to realise I was in a toxic friendship. I had just started dating my now husband and introduced him to someone ...

7 July 2022

Certainty inside the creative process by Phoebe Wynne, author of The Ruins

It’s difficult enough being a woman trying to fit into the boxes society has set out for us, without suddenly deciding you want to be creative. Leap out of the ...

7 July 2022

Top tips for blending fairy tale and contemporary fiction by Ella McLeod, author of Rapunzella

First things first, before I dive into the nitty gritty of combining the genre we all love to hate with the modern world- which we also all love to hate- ...

7 July 2022

Open letter to Angela Carter by Chelsea G Summers, author of A Certain Hunger

Dear Angela, Where to begin but with a story. More than a decade ago — before I got paid for my writing, before I started writing my novel, before I ...

7 July 2022

Gavin Collinson, author of An Accident in Paris writes an open letter to Agatha Christie

Agatha! Darling! How are you? You must tell me everything! But first of all, tea. You always loved tea. Couldn’t bear coffee. The author Felix Francis recently told me a ...
7 July 2022

Victoria Scott, author of Grace shares seven things she'd like her readers to know about her

I spend so much time making characters up in my head that I sometimes forget that they are the product of all of the people I’ve ever met, the things ...

7 July 2022

Emma Bamford, author of Deep Water shares seven things she'd like her readers to know about her

When I was 31, I had my first mid-life crisis. I felt stuck in a rut, both in my job as a newspaper journalist, and in my perpetually single life ...

7 July 2022

Bea Setton, author of Berlin writes an open letter to her favourite author Sylvia Plath

Dear Sylvia Plath, I have longed to write you a fan letter or to reach into the past to tell you the good news. You have been an immense, triumphant ...