Where do you get your ideas from?
One of the things I like best about being a writer is going out into the Real World and meeting readers. Last week I did a talk at my local library, alongside my writer friend Annie Lyons, and it was great. Not only did the audience ask some thoughtful questions, and basically have a lovely chat with us, the stories they shared sparked some new ideas for future books.
Often at events like these, the first question anyone asks is ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ In fact, it’s a question I’m often asked.
I’ve just finished a book, and I have nothing lined up to write next for the first time in quite a while! So now I’m trawling through ideas, thinking about what could work.
Where do I get those ideas? Everywhere!
Sometimes my ideas come from real life. Elsie in The Book of Last Letters was inspired by a real-life Elsie who kept a similar book in WW1. I found out about her when my son was doing a history project!
The Garden of Lost Secrets was inspired by an article in the Telegraph about the segregation of US troops in Britain during the war - which reminded me of stories my grandmother had told. And Philippa’s story was cheekily lifted from a Mumsnet thread where someone thought she’d found a grave in the overgrown back garden of her new house!
I keep an ideas document on my desktop, where I save snippets of things that I’ve thought ‘oooh’ about. This week I’ve added a photograph of my friend’s grandmother, who was a firefighter during the Blitz, a link to a BBC story about a woman in Edinburgh who mends people’s clothes on the street, and some notes about Hughenden Manor during WW2. I think of these notes like acorns - a kernel of an idea that could grow one day. Maybe they’ll never come to anything, but I like having them there - just in case!
At the moment, I’m not sure what I’m going to write next. I’ve had very tight deadlines for the last couple of years, which has been quite stressful so I’m enjoying taking the time to breathe and think!
And I’m getting ready for the launch of my next saga Victory for the Sewing Factory Girls which is set in a munitions factory in WW1. It’s out on kindle next month, with the paperback release in November
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What I’m reading
Due to the unreasonableness (that’s a word) of Apple TV and Gary Oldman and his crew for not having season four of Slow Horses available for me to watch until the end of the year, I’ve turned to the books by Mick Herron. I’m reading the first one now and it’s great. The TV show is very true to this book at least.
This month I’ve also read My Favourite Mistake by the fabulous Marian Keyes, which was just a JOY. And Weyward by Emilia Hart which is witchy and wonderful and made me wish I had written it.
What I’m watching
Renegade Nell (on Disney +) is written by my absolute fave Sally Wainwright, who - I’m fairly sure - sat down to write something completely different from Happy Valley and came up with a historical comedy about a highway woman with a tiny guardian fairy called Billy who gives her extra strength. I know, it sounds bonkers but it’s actually great (obviously because it’s Sally Wainwright).
All the Bridgerton chatter made me realise I’ve only watched s1 which is very exciting because now I’ve got two seasons to catch up on. And I’m also keen to watch the new Rebus adaptation which I’ve heard from several people is “odd”.