Virgin Widow (48 page)

Straight onto 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

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.

Definitely morning. I am not a night person.

Tea first thing in the morning – then coffee.

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 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. My pleasure in this genre has stayed with me ever since.

I have just finished
The Little Stranger
by Sarah Waters – I enjoyed it, especially her skill in creating suspense.

Now I am reading Hilary Mantel’s
Wolf Hall.
How splendid to have historicals so prominent in the Booker Prize short list – and the winner – for 2009.

I try to write every day, for the sake of continuity, and because I suffer from withdrawal symptoms if I miss more than a few days. What will my characters do without me?

I am a morning writer. In summer when the days are long I can start work at 6.00am – it is harder in winter when I am usually underway by 8.00am. I work until lunchtime, about one o’clock, with a coffee break. I have an office where I can leave all my books and papers around so that I can find them when I start again. If I tidy up I lose things.

In the afternoons when the weather is fine I enjoy my garden, a large, rambling area where I and my husband grow vegetables and soft fruit. The seasons are a delight with herbaceous flower borders, a wild garden, a small orchard and a formal pond. With an interest in herbs and their uses, I have a herb garden constructed on the pattern of a Tudor knot garden and enjoy cooking with the proceeds. It is a perfect time for me to mentally review what I’ve been doing as I keep the flowerbeds in order and wage war on the weeds.

Housework is fitted in as and when. My priority is writing and the garden, but I am driven to cleaning when I can write my name in the dust on the furniture.

Early evening is a time when I sit with a glass of wine to make contact with my husband. It is a very important hour which we put aside for ourselves. Sometimes I might read through what I have written in the morning. Then we eat – I am an enthusiastic cook so it is a pleasure to fit this into my day.

I have other interests to be slotted into my days. Recently I have signed on for a course on Writing for the Stage, something that intrigues me. I have
found it both helpful and enjoyable to develop skills in this different but complementary aspect of writing. Yoga is part of my relaxation as well as singing with a local choral society. Water-colour painting is a skill I am also trying to improve on, although I seem to have less and less time for anything other than writing…

Ariana Franklin:
Mistress of the Art of Death

Ariana Franklin:
The Death Maze.
I have just discovered Ariana Franklin’s medieval crime novels, although I enjoyed her historicals as Diana Norman. I love the humour, the authentic detail, the fine characterisation and the understated romance of them.

Dorothy Dunnett:
The Game of Kings
and the other five Lymond novels. I remember discovering
The Game of Kings
and being frustrated in having to wait until the rest were written to discover the final ending.

Elizabeth Chadwick:
The Wild Hunt.
Her first novel, that encouraged me to continue to read and enjoy Elizabeth Chadwick.

Georgette Heyer:
These Old Shades.
I read it in my youth when I first discovered Georgette Heyer and enjoyed the romance of it. I have read it again since and find it just as appealing. I recall wishing that I could write with such atmosphere and accuracy of detail and period.

Margaret Mitchell:
Gone With The Wind.
I was impressed by the scope of this novel and her ability to create a heroine who is not entirely likeable but wholly satisfying.

Daphne du Maurier:
Rebecca.
A novel of wonderful atmosphere and tension.

Philippa Gregory:
The Virgin’s Lover.
I have read all Philippa Gregory’s novels and I think I enjoyed this one the most for the manner in which Elizabeth, Dudley and his tragic wife were brought to life in vivid three-dimensionalism. The pace of it is excellent.

Lindsay Davis:
The Silver Pigs.
I was hooked on
the Falco series when I read this even though I would not count the Roman period as a favourite. I had to keep reading.

Joanne Harris:
Lollipop Shoes.
Another author I particularly look forward to reading. I enjoyed
Chocolat
and thought this was a worthy sequel.