Interviews

What is the book about?

In 1893, sisters Evelyn and Claire Wainwright leave their home in a prosperous Yorkshire mill town for life in a rural retreat on their beloved moors. They are both devotees of the Brontë – and Claire is quite besotted with the notorious and ultimately tragic Branwell Brontë. She believes she sees him; that he visits her in her room. But he has been dead for over forty years.

A strange toy – The Garden of Bewitchment - mysteriously appears and a chain of increasingly terrifying events is unleashed. Neighbour Matthew Dixon has had personal experience of the deadly object and says it must be destroyed, but can he be trusted? Events begin to take hold. Fantasy and reality become blurred and Evelyn no longer knows who or what to believe. Something is threatening the lives and sanity of the women. It all centres on the evil toy. And time is running out.

Did you base your characters on anyone you knew?

Not personally no. I wouldn’t want to be sued!

Who influenced you most in the writing of the book?

My influences come from decades of reading – not just horror, but many genres, and not all of them fictional. I think M.R. James was probably looking over my shoulder at times, along with Susan Hill and even a little Oscar Wilde (think The Picture of Dorian Gray).

Is there any advice you can give someone starting to write?

Firstly, develop the hide of a rhinoceros – you’ll need it. Never argue online – especially with someone who has given you a less than flattering review. You never win those battles and I have seen some writers’ reputations permanently ruined. The main thing though is to produce the best work of which you are capable. The words ‘that’ll do’ should be eliminated from your vocabulary. Be prepared to be ruthless with your own work. If that paragraph doesn’t move the story on or serve some other useful purpose, out it goes. Finally, never, ever give up.

Where did you write?

In a small converted single bedroom. It has served as an office/study for the past few years but is now overrun with boxes as we get ready to move house.

Did you write in silence, or to any particular music?

I need peace and quiet, and music would be a distraction. I need to fully enter the world I am creating so that, when the shocks come, I can be scared too

Why do you write?

I have always written – even before I could properly form words. It is something I have a passion for and a need to do. I couldn’t imagine ever not writing.

What do you do when you need additional inspiration or ideas?

I read, watch films or simply go for a walk. Strangely though some of my best ideas occur when I’m in the shower. Then it’s a mad dash to get out, get dried and dressed and get the ideas down before I forget them. It’s a shame I can’t take a pen and paper in the shower with me!

Do you finish everything you start? If a piece isn’t working, at what point do you cut your losses and abandon it?

I mostly finish everything I start but I did have one occasion where I realised I simply couldn’t stand the protagonist and didn’t want to spend any more time with her. That was one manuscript that ended up in the garbage.

What are you writing now?

I am currently working on a story about a woman who undergoes major surgery in a hospital with a lot of murky history behind it. The past is about to confront the present and my protagonist becomes increasingly caught up in the evil that was wrought there many years ago