It can get lonely here in the writing garret at Downie Towers, especially when spending the whole evening trying to make photos line up on a web page while they refuse to co-operate (see below). So occasionally we invite a guest over for a chat.

Vicki trying on shoes

Vicki Leon

Vicki is the author of the popular Uppity Women series and most recently of the wondrously-entitled ‘How to Mellify a Corpse’, in which she lifts the lid on the classical world’s weird and wonderful, ranging from solar fountains and surround-sound to lethal lipstick.

Find out more here…







Jane Finnis

Jane Finnis

Jane is the author of the Aurelia Marcella mysteries set in Roman Yorkshire. I’m always interested in the way other writers approach their work, and the first thing I wanted to ask Jane was about her choice of lead character.

Me:  I once heard a writer say he wouldn’t have a woman as a lead investigator in a historical novel because it would be too restrictive – ‘men got out more’.

Read Jane’s reply here…



Portrait of Sarah Bower

Sarah Bower

Sarah Bower’s first novel, THE NEEDLE IN THE BLOOD, was Susan Hill’s Book of the Year in 2007. Her second, SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA, has just been published in the USA, so this seemed like the ideal time to invite her over for a chat.

I was curious not only about the Borgias, but about how Sarah finds the whole experience of writing. Find out here…