☰MAY 2026

The writing process

May is a quiet month in my schedule. There's no touring - though I might have done a few events around paperback publication in the month before - and the autumn hardback is already edited, copy-edited and proofed. It's a month for exploration, small projects, fidgeting my way into a new novel.

I did have one gig on May 1^st and that was joyous, full of laughter and surprises. I helped Jane Harper celebrate publication of her book, Last One Out. We were in Newcastle's Biscuit Factory and hosted by my favourite booksellers at Forum and the bound. It helped that my good friend Vic Watson was the moderator. I've been a fan of Jane since I read her first novel The Dry. I loved the alien setting and the brilliant characterisation. The new book has the same authenticity of character growing out of landscape and community, the stunning ending, which is surprising, but inevitable at the same time.

During that session, we described the way we write. Perhaps because she once worked as a journalist, Jane is a planner. She spends longer on research than on the writing. In her writing space, she's surrounded by notes and detail. I find facts hard and unforgiving things. My idea of research is to walk the streets, listen to gossip, phone some friends. And even then, I have no hesitation in ditching the facts to tell my story. Jane might change the route on her travels, but she knows the destination, the place where the book will end. I have no idea. Each novel is a magical mystery tour.

Perhaps we write so differently because our careers took very different paths. Jane's first book was an immediate worldwide bestseller. It deserved to be! Later, it was turned into a film. I can't imagine how that would have been for a new young novelist. Amazing, but stressful. There must have been an expectation to follow up with something different, but equally successful.

My books slipped into the world unnoticed. For the first twenty years, I was never paid a pre-completion advance. I wrote the book first, before my publisher decided whether to accept it and pay up. Of course, I needed a day job and writing was my escape, just as reading had always been. I got up early while the rest of the family slept and I made up my stories. This never felt like work. It had to be fun, an adventure.

That's still how it feels. I start with an idea or a character or a place. Always a place. (I know that the setting of the book is just as important to Jane too). I work my way into the novel, with the excitement of setting off on a journey or a first date. I love that empty screen, the endless possibilities.

Of course, things have changed since my novels achieved a little commercial success, but I have the support of a wonderful team at Pan Macmillan. There's some expectation now and I'd hate to let my colleagues down. I have the chance to travel, to meet readers, and that's fun too. Touring can sometimes be tiring, but it's a different kind of adventure.

What I love most, what I'm so grateful for, is the chance to write as I always have. My publisher doesn't expect a synopsis. I spend early mornings sat at my kitchen table, exploring the lives of my fictional characters. There are tricky times, especially in the middle of a book, when I'm grappling with plot strands and I lose confidence in my ability. But when the words flow and I'm living in the narrative, it's a joyful experience, like no other.

I'm delighted that Jane Harper will be our special guest in next year's Bay Tales festival in my hometown of Whitley Bay. If you're as much of a fan as I am, tickets are on sale now. Check out the Bay Tales website.