Tillie Roberts asked Elizabeth Wein:

Hi Elizabeth! I just read your book "Codename Verity" and I loved it. How has your life effected the outcome of the book? Have you included some real life events in it?

Elizabeth Wein hey Tillie, so sorry I didn't respond to this question when you asked it four months ago! The main real life events that I included were the parts relating to friendship. The bicycle trip in the rain was based on a real adventure that I had with a friend; and the whole construction of the friendship, particularly how the girls have to snatch visits together when they are based quite far apart, was based on my own best friends. The settings are also places I am familiar with (Scotland, Stockport, southern England); and finally, the scene where Maddie is flying in Scotland and it is snowing in the cockpit is based on something that really happened to me! Paul, the character who can't keep his hands off women, is based on a combination of men I've encountered in my life, and every single one of his advances is something that really happened to me. I like to knit together things that happened when I'm writing fiction, and use real events to make the story feel as if it might really have happened.

I'm so glad you loved Code Name Verity!

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