Erika Mailman asked Patricia Bracewell:

Patricia, how do you get "in the mood" to write about such ancient characters? Do you have any rituals to invite the past into your writing practice?

Patricia Bracewell After giving this some thought, Erika, - because it's difficult to define our own writing process, isn't it? - I'd have to say that it's a matter of putting myself into the scene. I think in scenes and therefor I write in scenes, or maybe it's the other way round, but in any case, the scene is the thing for me. I am right there with my characters, whether it's in a bedchamber or a church or a path beside a river. Frequently I make a drawing of the space so that I'm very clear about what each character can see and where they are in relationship to each other and to whatever things are present in that space. My characters' 'present' becomes my 'present', so I don't even think of it as 'the past'. Now I'm going over to your page to ask you the same question!

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