Linda Pirtle asked Victoria Dowd:

I like your concept for your series. Do you outline your stories? Or do you give your characters free rein?

Victoria Dowd Hi Linda, Thank you very much! I do outline the stories on large pin boards a lot of the time. So for instance, with book 3, it’s set in a village on Dartmoor and the starting point was to draw out the village and the houses. Then I moved on to the characters living in those houses and how they relate to each other. However, the driving force behind the visit is the Smart women. They guide us around the new world and, in particular, Ursula is our eyes so what she sees is incredibly important. What she doesn’t see is also very important. I layer it really. I give them a setting and all the characters set out and they then drive the action forward. I go over and over it though putting very small clues and red herrings in. I hope that makes sense. Sometimes it does! Thanks so much for the question and I hope you enjoy the series. Best wishes, Victoria

flag