A DAY IN THE LIFE

I try to write every day, for the sake of continuity, and because I suffer from withdrawal symptoms if I miss more than a few days. What will my characters do without me?

I am a morning writer. In summer when the days are long I can start work at 6.00am—it is harder in winter when the mornings are dark, but I am usually underway by 8.00am. I work until lunchtime, about one o’clock, with a coffee break. I have an office where I can leave all my books and papers around so that I can find them when I start again. If I tidy up I lose things.

In the afternoons when the weather is fine I enjoy my garden, a large, rambling area where my husband and I grow vegetables and soft fruit. The seasons are a delight, with herbaceous flower borders, a wild garden, a small orchard and a formal pond. With an interest in herbs and their uses, I have a herb garden constructed on the pattern of a Tudor knot garden and enjoy cooking with the proceeds. It is a perfect time for me to mentally review what I’ve been doing as I keep the flowerbeds in order and wage war on the weeds.

Housework is fitted in as and when I am driven to it. My priority is writing and the pleasures of my garden.

Early evening is a time when I sit with a glass of wine to make contact with my husband. It is a very important hour which we put aside for ourselves when we can talk and listen to music. Sometimes I might read through what I have written in the morning. Then we eat—I am an enthusiastic cook, so it is a pleasure to fit this into my day.

I have discovered that writing has a habit of taking over my life if I allow it, but I refuse to give up on my yoga…

THE TEN BEST PLACES TO READ THE

SCANDALOUS DUCHESS

1. A summer garden with a little shade, a comfortable chair and a cup of tea. Guaranteed to concentrate the mind and allow the reader to wallow in the romance.

2. On the underground in the rush hour. (An e-reader is excellent for this!) Remove yourself from the crush and immerse yourself in a day’s hunting with Katherine and the Duke or an edgy scene at Constanza’s court.

3. On a seat in a shopping mall. Lose yourself in the ‘must have’ gear for a fourteenth century woman. A perfect antidote to the demands of retail therapy.

4. In the lovely gardens at Kenilworth Castle with a view of the buildings commissioned by Duke John. What better place to tread in their footsteps? The Great Hall was frequently used for dancing. I dare you…!

5. On a Thames water taxi between Westminster and Blackfriars to admire the impressive bulk of The Savoy Hotel, imagining that it is the Duke of Lancaster’s Savoy Palace, with Katherine and her children watching the river traffic from the walls.

6. In the dentist’s waiting room. The turbulence of this love affair will take your mind off the agonies to come.

7. At any literary festival. Enjoy the restoration of Katherine to wedded respectability with her lover as you spread the good word for historical fiction.

8 In a long queue that never seems to move. You won’t care, if you are caught up in the repercussions of the Duke’s quitclaim and Katherine’s slighted fury.

9. At Pontefract Castle. How the ruined walls must shiver with all that pent-up emotion of Katherine’s rejection!

10. Tucked up for the winter with a fire and music and mulled wine to hand. Choose something medieval to set the scene and step back into the ducal court.

Absolutely anywhere, in fact…

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