10 questions with Lesley Horton (Twisted Tracks)

1) Where do you write?
I have a study which was once the small bedroom. When I sold my first book I had it specially designed for me and I love it.

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
I’m not sure of the first title I read, but I can remember devouring Enid Blyton’s books when I was seven. I used to save my pocket money so that I could buy myself one for my holidays and for Christmas.

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
It has to be Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights.

4) Is there a book by another author that you wish you had written?
I would love to have written To Serve Them All My Days by R.F.Delderfield.

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
I was told by a bestselling author to keep going no matter what and not to take bad reviews to heart.

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
Many years ago I was told by a neighbour not to go to university because it was a waste of time for a woman. Thankfully I ignored her and I loved it.

7) What are you currently reading?
I am reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. It follows a rare book expert who has been asked to restore a priceless book and in so doing is taken on a journey through its past.

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
I don’t have one. There are many people I admire for many different reasons.

9) Where are you happiest?
When I am relaxing in my garden on a warm day in summer and there is no one to disturb my peace.

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
Neil Armstrong, John Thaw, Michael Parkinson, Kate Adie, Anne Rule and P D James.

Lesley's website .
is now available.

10 questions with Freda Lightfoot (The Duchess of Drury Lane)

1) Where do you write?
If I’m in Spain, I write in my office with my back to the view of the olive grove, so that I’m not too distracted. When I’m in our holiday home in the UK I have no view at all, which is probably better for a writer. And I can generally hear the rain hammering on the roof, which makes a change from the white noise of chicadas.

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
I can’t remember that far back as I read before I was five, but probably a little Grey Rabbit story by Alison Uttley, which I loved.

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
Always the character I’m currently writing about. Dora Jordan, an eighteenth century actress who was mistress to the Duke of Clarence, later William IV, is my current heroine. She was the most successful and popular comedic actress of her day, an independent fiesty woman, and generous-hearted to a fault.

4) Is there a book by an another author that you wish you had written?
I would love to write a book as wonderful as Rebecca or House on the Strand. Daphne Du Maurier had an amazing skill with words, her descriptions are to be savoured with pleasure, and all her books are page turners. I think we can learn a great deal from such gifted writers.

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
Write from the heart, and don’t be afraid of showing emotion on the page.

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
I don’t think I’ve ever had bad advice, either from writers or editors. They are always so helpful. Some of it may not be relevant to me or the way I work, but I’m always ready to listen and give it a try. That’s how I’ve learned my craft.

7) What are you currently reading?
The King’s Concubine by Anne O’Brien, which I’m really enjoying. It’s the story of Alice Perrers, mistress to Edward III. It’s an interesting take on the role as she is approved of by the Queen, but not by her peers. I can’t wait to find out what happens.

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
My lovely husband, of course. We’ve been happily married for over forty years.

9) Where are you happiest?
At my desk, writing, where else?

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
Victoria Wood, as I love her sense of humour, and she too is a Lancashire lass so we’d have quite a lot in common.

Freda's website
is published on 29th November

10 questions with Sue Swift (Lord Devere's Ward)

1) Where do you write?
I treat writing as my job and have a room in my home set up as an office. It's rare that I write anywhere else.

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
I don't remember the title, but it was about a train and everything that it carried. My three-year-old self loved it :)

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
No--there are so many I like!

4) Is there a book by an another author that you wish you had written?
Many. Harry Potter, duh. To Kill a Mockingbird--an American classic that's so beautifully written.

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
"Be patient with yourself."

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
Never give up. The fact is that there are many goals and activities that aren't worth pursuing.

7) What are you currently reading?
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
President Obama and Hillary Clinton.

9) Where are you happiest?
In Italy.

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
A bunch of comedians, witty, funny, smart people like Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, Johnny Carson, with a few hot single guys like David Giuntoli and Viggo Mortensen to make it interesting.

is now available

10 questions with Iris Jones Simantel (Far from the East End)

1) Where do you write?
I write in my study on the top floor of our three storey house. It looks out over the rooftops of Sidmouth, towards the surrounding hills. I throw the windows open and all I can hear is the sound of seagulls, - that might bother some people but I love it, it reminds me of where I am and how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place.

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
Our Friends Next Door, a children's book that I received just after World War II ended in 1946. I recently found and purchased a copy of that book, to add to my "memory box". In rereading the book, I was amazed at how the language of the day was so different in children's books. I mean, can you imagine a child today, aged about 8 years, saying to a friend, "I say old chap..." What a laugh.

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
Oh so many but I have to say that the characters in the books written by Harry Mark Petrakis, an iconic Greek American author who I am lucky enough to call my friend. Kurt Vonnegut wrote, "I have often thought what a wonderful basketball team could be formed from Petrakis's characters. Every one of them is at least 14 feet tall". In his book, A Dream of Kings, the protagonist, Matsoukas, is a perfect example of this.

4) Is there a book by  another author that you wish you had written?
A Mass for the Dead, by William Gibson, immediately springs to mind, but again, there are many. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is another book that blew me away with it's richness of character and the author's ability to get inside those characters' minds, brilliant.  

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
Not exactly advice but I can think of two things that still resonate with me. Tim Curry, the actor, was making a film in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, my former home town in America. I happened to be on the set, watching the filming and he came and sat next to me. We chatted about England and how I missed it and hoped to return some day. He asked me if I had anything he could write on and I produced a note book on which he wrote, "Keep on believing, your dreams can come true", and of course, they have. Secondly, I have a print of a painting by Chicago artist Ivan Albright, the original lifesize painting hangs in the Museum of Art in Chicago, and when I saw it, it took my breath away. The painting is of a door with a funeral wreath hanging on it. From a corner, comes a wrinkled hand, clutching a tear stained handkerchief. The title of the painting is "That which I could have done and did not". This is my constant reminder to live my life with no regrets and I try to do just that.

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
I come from a very poor, council house family and being told to, "remember my station", that being a reference to the old British class system where you had to remember that you were not as good as others of a so-called higher station of life. I have written extensively about that in my best selling book, FAR FROM THE EAST END, published recently by Penguin books. I like to think we have come a long way from those days.

7) What are you currently reading?
Ha ha ha, I hate to admit it but I tried reading Fifty Shades of Grey, just to see what all the fuss is about. All I can say is that it is indeed, a real page turner, - I found myself turning at least ten pages at a time to get it over with! I had just finished reading Isabelle Allende's, The Infinite Plan", - what an incredibly gifted writer she is. I am now reading Allende's memoir, The Sum of Our Days, which I'm sure is going to be an epic journey through her amazing life.

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
Hmmm, that's a tough one except that American President Barack Obama immediately popped into my mind. I feared for his life when he was elected, knowing the history of American politics and violence. It took gargantuan courage for him to run for office and then to accept the presidency. Also the courage of his family had to match that of his own. I admire him enormously and hope he is re-elected.

9) Where are you happiest?
That's easy. I am happiest right here, right now. What more can I say.

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
First of all, it would be wonderful to have just one more visit with my mother, although she would be terribly uncomfortable with the rest of my guests. Peter Ustinov, for his sheer brilliance; Maya Angelou, a truly remarkable woman who overcame insurmountable odds; Michael Morpurgo, for his gentle and driven concern for the rights and welfare of children; Dalai Lama, for his peaceful wisdom humour and presence; Leonard Cohen, for the ongoing (at age 78) sharing of his remarkable and honest poetry; Dylan Thomas (if he could stay sober), again for his brilliance and ability to transport us to the depths and height of emotion.  I think that would do for a start, -oh, and a great chef in the kitchen.

Visit Iris's website
is now available