Ask the Author: Jacqueline Winspear
Answered Questions (226)
Jacqueline Winspear
I lived close to Shere for a number of years and always loved the area, so it was easy to choose it as a location in one of the novels. The Old Mill at nearby Gomshall was one of my favorite places to have tea, many years ago when they offered the most wonderful "Miller's Teas" on the menu, with fresh cress from the watercress beds. I believe it's closed now.
Jacqueline Winspear
I would love to write a sequel to The Care and Management of Lies, and I am hoping to have time to write it in the next couple of years. I'm glad you're enjoying To Die But Once - thank you!
Jacqueline Winspear
Thank you so much, Leslie - it's always lovely to hear from readers who have enjoyed my books. So many people have told me how Maisie Dobbs has helped them to get through a difficult period, which reflects on that generation of women, who had to endure so much. I think it would be unfair of me to give out any spoilers regarding Maisie's future though!
Jacqueline Winspear
No, I never used anything like a case map when I was a child. However, I had just started writing Maisie Dobbs, when I had a very bad riding accident, which resulted in major surgery to right my arm and shoulder - and I am right-handed. The only way I could plan out my book was on a very large poster-sized Post-it note, and use big fat felt pens - because I am not very dextrous with my left hand, except when I type! I created a map of the story to refer to as I wrote (I had to lift my right hand onto the keyboard. So that very visual way of planning a novel found its way into the story - and I have used it ever since as a means of planning out a story.
Jacqueline Winspear
Well, IN THIS GRAVE HOUR has just been published, so the next novel in the series will be published in March 2018.
Jacqueline Winspear
I have quite a few characters up my sleeve with a story to tell ... so when I decide not to tell Maisie's story any more, there's plenty for me to write about. And I cannot say how old she will be when I decide to end her story - though I don't think it will be because I have run out of things to say about her, but more likely that I want to write other stories.
Jacqueline Winspear
Thank you for your question, Nanci. It's always hard to see the end of a character - I think Lizzie Beale and Maurice were far harder than James Compton though. It's all part of the overall saga. And as the creator of the series, I can pretty much make anything I want happen as time goes on - I don't have to wish for it!
Jacqueline Winspear
I've always been interested in the history of dress and the way in which it reflects a given era.
Jacqueline Winspear
All the characters pique my curiosity in some way - that's why I write about them.
Jacqueline Winspear
You'll have to "watch this space" for the answer to that one. I don't tell the story before I tell the story!
Jacqueline Winspear
Thank you for your question - and no, it's never difficult to see Maisie from the perspective of any one character.
Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie did not communicate with dead spirits as such - she is very much a "sensitive" who has an awareness of the veil between worlds (one way to put it). I did not consciously "drop" that idea, but if I do not include a given trait for any of the characters, it's because it just didn't fit whilst I was writing, therefore it didn't come up. No big decisions were employed.
Jacqueline Winspear
Thank you, Dorothy. I am afraid I have no plans to come to Bouchercon, however I will be in Toronto in mid-April for an event - details on my website soon.
Jacqueline Winspear
I don't consider there to be a challenging part of writing "historical mysteries" as such. I am writing about a given character and secondary characters at a certain point in time, and I am taking them through time. The mystery emerges as a result of that and is just part of the story. The first 50 pages are the most challenging - after that I am "locked in" and I just write every day until the story in my head is on the page. Or should I say about 350-400 pages!
Jacqueline Winspear
The spiritual aspects of Maisie's character came in a very organic way - I just knew that this was part of who she was and I wrote it about that aspect of her character. Indeed, it has historical underpinnings, given the interest in eastern spirituality among the sort of people Maisie would have met through her mentor, Dr. Maurice Blanche. I have never met anyone like Maisie Dobbs, and she is not based on any particular person.
Jacqueline Winspear
I am not thinking of new "mysteries" for Maisie to encounter - I let history be my guide and take it from there. I'm interested in how Maisie Dobbs and her fellow characters move through time and the challenges of their day - the mystery aspect of my novels comes from those considerations. I don't write whodunnits, so the plot is always a result of character development.
Jacqueline Winspear
History is bound to repeat itself - but it's a bit like fashion in that some details change along the way. Dangerous Games by Margaret MacMillan is an interesting book about history.
Jacqueline Winspear
Stratton does indeed appear again - in IN THIS GRAVE HOUR. And thank you for your lovely comments.
Jacqueline Winspear
I'm afraid I won't be in PA at all. The book tours are planned by my publisher based upon bookseller invitation and the logistics of travel - I only have a limited number of weeks to devote to travel back and forth across the country. Filming is not quite in the works, though planning for a possible TV series based upon the books is in progress - there are no guarantees though.
Jacqueline Winspear
I was born and raised in England, though I'm a bit young for the immediate aftermath of WW2. I would point out, though, that there were still bomb sites in London for many years following the war - indeed, it was the development of the London docklands areas in the late 1980's and later preparations for the 2012 Olympics that saw the end of the last bomb sites. My parents lived through that war though, and my grandparents through WW1.
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