Everyone assumes writers spend their time lounging around, writing and occasionally striking a pose whilst having a think.

Historical fiction of course is particularly research-heavy. The details of everyday life are there to trip you up. Things that we take for granted, indeed, hardly think about, can lead to tremendous mistakes.

It may take a village to raise a baby, but hell! it takes an army to produce a book.

I jealously guard my research time and I love fully immersing myself in those dusty old books and papers. It's one of the most enjoyable parts of my job.

The sky was a sparkling succession of black diamonds on black velvet made crystal clear by the blackout.

A word out of place or an interesting choice of vocabulary can spawn a whole character.

Everyone assumes writers spend their time lounging around, writing and occasionally striking a pose whilst having a think.