Bestselling historical novelist SHARON PENMAN writes about the origins of her four-book medieval crime series THE QUEEN’S MAN and explains how her fictional creation has taken on a life of his own...

I’d just finished an 800 page novel, When Christ and His Saints Slept, long even by my standards, and I felt I needed a change of pace. Since I read mysteries for pleasure, it seemed only natural to try my hand at one.

The trouble with a lot of literary biographies is that they’re often quite boring. Writers, by and large, don’t tend to live terribly exciting lives, and there’s only so many times that you can be told ‘X started another book’ or ‘Y received the prestigious fellowship of Z’ before your eyes glaze over, you put what you’re reading down on page 101, and you bury yourself in a good crime novel instead. And sometimes even those writers who have had more glamorous and exciting – or wicked and depraved – lives don’t translate into grippingly told stories.

Local crime authors Hanna Jameson, Jane Lythell and Lesley Thomson discuss their female protagonists in a panel event at Waterstones Brighton.

Thursday 17 July - 7.30pm - £3

To purchase your ticket email brighton@waterstones.com or call 01273 206017

This interview with Alex Davis was originally featured on the Gemmell Awards website. To view the full Award shortlists, click here.

Today we catch up with Luke Scull, author of the Morningstar-nominated THE GRIM COMPANY.

Alex: Tell us a little about your Morningstar-nominated title, THE GRIM COMPANY.

One Year of Babbling! Wow! That’s gone quick. I have in the last fifty two weeks lived in Bermuda for a big chunk of it, visited Australia, twice, New Zealand, twice, New York, twice, Portugal, Ireland, Scotland, Honk Kong, twice, St. Lucia and am preparing for South Africa and Canada in next few weeks – no wonder I’m tired! I hate to think of how many miles I have flown.  

The award-winning journalist and writer Margie Orford is the author of the Clare Hart series of crime novels. The five books in the series have been published internationally, in nine different languages. Born in London and raised in Namibia, the Cape Town-based Orford is Executive Vice-President of South African PEN and patron of Rape Crisis.

What does “writing” mean?

Earning a living.

What book changed your life?

Bank Holiday again? Not that you will hear any moans from me. I always think that a Bank Holiday feels like an additional Sunday in the week, thrown in for good measure and that can be no bad thing, especially when the…. I was going to mention the large, warming yellow orb that hovers in the sky but remembered that I am not allowed to for fear of jinxing it!

Now, being married to a writer has its challenges. I speak of course on behalf of The Husband. I often wake at 3 or 4 a.m. and shout – ‘Quick! Write this down!’ as a key idea or feature often jumps into my head at this time. He never grumbles, but simply reaches for a notebook and pen (or iPad) and I dictate to him for a few minutes. I then fall straight back to sleep, but apparently he lays there for quite a while, wondering if I will jumping up again any time soon… Similarly, I wake at 5.45 every day and leap from our bed with a thought that needs to get tip tapped onto my screen.

Head of Zeus have acquired a new novel from Booker prize winning author Ben Okri titled The Age of Magic, as well as the rights to four backlist titles which will be published for the first time in digital as well as new paperback editions. These are Astonishing the Gods, A Way of Being Free, Dangerous Love, and In Arcadia.

Maggie McKernan bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Jessica Woollard at the Marsh Agency.