When I’m writing a novel, I always like to have an image in my mind of what the two lead characters look like. Often, this can be a composite of two or three people – for example, in my debut novel, The Second Chance Tea Shop, Matthew Carter, the leading man, was a kind of […]
A Romantic Fiction Writer’s Thoughts on the England Team of Euro 2020.
So, today’s ‘what I love’ is actually about something I’ve just started…again. There’s something about the very beginning of a new novel; when the details aren’t there, when you’re feeling your way, and things are just vague shapes in your mind. For me, it starts with the end. I generally, although not always, know how […]
I’m going to try to follow my daughter’s example with this blog, and post more regularly for the next few weeks. As a result, I thought I’d do some shortish posts where I write about things I love. Welcome to the first in the series! So…the Shipping Forecast. Put simply, it’s a list of the […]
Like most authors, I often get asked if I base my characters or events on real life things, and, like most authors, I always say no! However, now that my latest novel, ‘Snowflakes Over Bay Tree Terrace’, has been published, I thought it would be nice to talk about the elements of reality in my […]
Every so often I like to write about texts that have inspired me, be they books, plays, films or TV shows. This week I’ve revisited a film that I adored as a teenager, and as an adult I watch from time to time, too. I showed it to my younger daughter yesterday, as I was […]
For the first four novels of my career, I wrote in the living room. The computer was in the corner, and I’d type while keeping a vague eye on my young daughters, just to make sure no major mishaps occurred. When the first, and then the second, went to school, I stayed put because it […]
In which I argue that all fiction is about relationships, even superhero fiction.
Ever since I can remember, writing and reading have been my happy places. They are where I go when, if you’ll excuse the vernacular, Shit Gets Too Real in real life. Now, before everyone gets out their tiny violins, can I just make clear that, actually, for most of the time, my life is exactly […]
I’ve written about fandom a lot, and I’m sure I write at least one blog post a year where I explain just how much an impact falling in love with books, films, TV shows and plays has had on my writing life, but since it’s happened again after I saw The Force Awakens and The Last […]
Fay Keenan 