Giovanni Ramim asked Joseph Delaney:

Hello Joseph! I'm re-reading Spooks Apprentice (currently on vol.4) and i noticed that it seems like you have a great respect for your female characters when writing them. Did you had some real-life inspiration for creating them?

Joseph Delaney I suppose I have been influenced by women that I have met (although I will not name them – apart from my mother who influenced the character of Mam) but characters mainly grow for me through dialogue as they start to speak. Alice, Mam and Grimalkin slowly took shape in my imagination and I really enjoyed writing the parts of the books in which they featured. So eventually I gave Alice and Grimalkin books of their own in the series. Maybe one day I will do the same with Tom Ward’s mother.

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