So they brought out the dark, the gothic, and the haunting in me even more strongly.

As the writer, I simply hadn’t noticed or realised this in any kind of crystallised form. My editor pointed out that my novels were generally haunted in one way or another, with a creepy tension to them. I was close to finishing a draft of a full length novel, and this appealed to me–plus, I immediately knew what I wanted to write about–so I said yes. I was surprised and thought, why me? However, the timing was right. They simply approached my agent, asking if I’d like to write a Hammer novella. Joanna: Yes, it is, and I was happy to work for them. Ryan: Random House is certainly a prominent publisher. How did the business relationship come about? Also, to think about what might help new writers.

It’s interesting to think about one’s work afterwards with a clarity and distance one doesn’t possess at the time of writing. I appreciate your time to be with us, today. Joanna has also written features, columns, and book reviews for all the major UK papers and magazines, including the Sunday Times, Times, Observer, Elle, Vogue, Mail, and Telegraph. One of her recent novels was adapted into a drama by the UK’s ITV television studio. She is published with the esteemed Hammar/Random House publisher in the UK and Bloomsbury in the US. Joanna won a Betty Trask Award and was runner up for both the Encore Award and the Prince Maurice Prize Today, we’re speaking with Joanna Biscoe, an author from the UK.

Touched joanna briscoe