For a novelist, the gaps in a story are as intriguing as material that still exists.

People make interesting assumptions about the profession. The writer is a mysterious figure, wandering lonely as a cloud, fired by inspiration, or perhaps a cocktail or two.

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

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.

For a novelist, the gaps in a story are as intriguing as material that still exists.

I've always had a keen sense of history. My father was an antiques dealer and he used to bring home boxes full of treasures, and each item always had a tale attached.

We can learn so much looking outside our core field of expertise.