I know that sounds ineffective and daunting, but it [throw hundreds of pages away] is actually my favorite part of the writing process.

I love what I call "re-imagining," where I throw everything up in the air and let it fall in a different way. It's not the most efficient way to write a book, but it's how I find the story.

I read a ton of fiction - historical, contemporary, literary, commercial, I love it all.

Historical tends to be my bailiwick.

There were others, women with stories that were told in a quieter voice: women who hid Jewish children in their homes, putting themselves directly in harm's way to save others. Too many of them paid a terrible, unimaginable price for their heroism. And like so many women in wartime, they were largely forgotten after the war's end.There were no parades for them, very few medals, and almost no mention in the history books.

[I am more than happy to invite my five favorite fictional characters.]Roland Deschain from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. There's a whole world about Roland left to know. I've got questions. He'd have answers. So pour him a glass of wine.

With The Nightingale, I had been kicking the idea around for years. I was frightened to write it because on the surface it seems so different for me.