Hi Linda,

I’m so glad you enjoyed the article and found it helpful. I know what you mean – my current novel is on a completely different topic, much closer to home, but there’s always so much to learn! It’s fascinating to hear about your husband’s background and I hope you get to visit Croatia sometime and research the family history more – we’ve just got back from holiday on the island of Brač and had a wonderful time as ever (and apologies for the delay in replying). I hope you enjoy Someone Else’s Conflict when you get the chance to read it and in the meantime wish you all the best with your Scottish novel!

Hi Terri,
So glad you appreciated this. Yes I agree – although for my research I did read a lot of non-fiction, I also learn so much myself about so many periods and aspects of history from well-researched fiction and stories – I think partly because the emotional involvement of a story helps the facts and background to sink in and stay with me. Many thanks for your interest!

This essay resonated with me. I too took on war as a subject and very much from the outside, civilian perspective. The closer I got to launch, the more I found myself examining every aspect of my novel wondering, worrying about its reception from all sides of the subject. I constantly took my pulse as I wrote the novel, asking the same question about using the suffering of others in a way that was not right. The answer is no. I’ve learned, as you have, that this is the job of a story teller — to try in our own way to make sense of the world and to offer a window for others if they choose to look. As readers share with me their impressions of the book, I’ve been reassured time and time again that this is how it is working.