Hello Kay. Thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your latest book, Troubled Times for Tilly and what inspired it?

Troubled Times for Tilly is a follow up to my first book, The Water Gypsy. Lots of readers asked me what happened to the little boy, Joey, and I wanted to know what happened to him too, so that was the beginning of Troubled Times for Tilly. It’s about Joey growing up straddled between two different worlds and not belonging in either of them.

Troubled Times for Tilly is part of The Water Gypsy Books. What are the challenges of writing a novel when it is part of a series?

The main problem is deciding how much of the first book to include. Obviously, the characters are the same, so their backstory is important, but I don’t want to include any spoilers for people who haven’t read the first book, nor do I want it to feel repetitive for readers who have. It’s a fine balance.

What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals?

I don’t write every day. I tend to write in the morning and draft the next part of the novel in the afternoon. I often draft by hand and type up the next day. I don’t have a typical writing day.

What’s your favourite word and why?

Insight – the reorganisation of perceptions so that what was once seen as separate elements are suddenly seen as connected and relating to one another to form a whole. To my mind that’s what storytelling is all about – giving people insight into things they never considered to be connected.

From idea to finished final draft, how long does a writing project usually take you?

I write slowly so each book takes a year. I only write one book a year.

How do you approach the research and editing stages? When do you know when you’ve done enough of both?

I love research and finding out about things, so I probably do too much. For example, in Troubled Times for Tilly Joey is a Naval Cadet so I visited The Royal Naval College in Greenwich (part of which is now Greenwich University) to get a fee of the atmosphere of the place. I learned snippets of information that go into the book. As for editing – it’s never enough.

If you could witness an historical event, where would you go?

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