Goodreads Choice Awards 2025
Gabriel Woods
Gabriel Woods asked Lissa Oliver:

What research did you carry out for your novel Nero?

Lissa Oliver Initially, I read Suetonius and Tacitus as Penguin Classics and really enjoyed them, but was surprised by what I read of Nero, who differed greatly from the Hollywood versions I'd been used to. So I went back through both Roman authors, as well as Cassius Dio, and began a biography. I then found four modern academic biographies of him, all telling the same thing, so I switched to writing his story as fiction and bringing him more to life. Michael Grant, Jerome Carcopino, plus several others that were borrowed from libraries, were soon strewn around me like a little magic circle! I had several notebooks and used them all at once, trying to write events in order of date, as Suetonius and Tacitus were sensationalists who often took events out of context for more dramatic effect. After at least four years, I began to write the actual straight biography, which I used as a skeleton frame for the fiction-style story. I always think of it as about four years, but realistically, and according to friends, it was nearer seven. But basically, just reading contemporary accounts, academic biographies and reference books on daily life in Rome, currency values, politics, etc. Just full-on immersal!
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More Answered Questions

Gabriel Woods
Gabriel Woods asked Lissa Oliver:

I have observed in your book Chantilly Dawns that some characters lead a very wealthy lifestyle from birth. There is a contrast with an extremely interesting character called Marcel, to me a complex and very likable character, who acquired wealth through his own means from his work as a jockey. Can you tell me where the inspiration came from to write such a variety of interesting characters?

Gabriel Woods
Gabriel Woods asked Lissa Oliver:

You have amassed a huge amount of experience in the horse racing industry that influenced what you wrote for example Sainte Bastian. You have also delved into the politics of ancient Rome from which your book Nero was published. Was it difficult for you to switch from writing about Nero and then to the horse racing world? How did you manage to develop your writing process to include both influences?

Roy Hunt
Roy Hunt asked Lissa Oliver:

Hi Lissa, as someone who spent a reasonable amount of time around horses (but not flat racing, showjumpers), I can vouch for the fact that you really know horses and their moods. Just wondering, have you ever considered an Irish version of Black Beauty? or a fictional version of what happened to Shergar!?

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Lissa Oliver
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