Author Interviews | Page 1

Tim Waterstone | 'It was very cleansing to write, but also to face the ugly stuff'

Philip Jones talks to Tim Waterstone about the founding of his eponymous high street chain and how his early years formed his view of bookselling.... Read more

Sam Copeland | 'Children’s books give you the freedom to be funny'

RCW agent Sam Copeland was a trade rarity: a publishing staffer with no desire to turn author. Now, he says, he can’t stop writing...... Read more

Lucy Foley | 'I wanted to read a modern murder mystery. So that’s what I wrote'

With three historical novels to her name, former editor Lucy Foley has turned her hand to a Highlands-set murder mystery. Read more

Holly Smale | 'The books you love at that age stay with you forever'

Bestselling YA author Holly Smale returns with a new series that explores perception and reality in the age of social media. Read more

Angie Thomas | 'Kids like us don’t often get discussed'

Angie Thomas' follow-up to The Hate U Give, her hugely successful début novel, shines a light on modern day america and the deep divisions that... Read more

Diane Setterfield | 'We use storytelling to explain ourselves to ourselves'

The third novel by Diane Setterfield centres on a drowned child who miraculously returns to life, and the people who lay claim to her.... Read more

Lucy Strange | 'I think it’s so important not to underestimate readers of that age, the complexity of their inner world'

A painting provided the inspiration for Lucy Strange’s second children’s book, about a family struggling with the outbreak of the Second World War.... Read more

John Lanchester | 'The issue about betrayal is who gets to define it'

John Lanchester’s new novel imagines a near-future world, recognisably ours, yet irredeemably broken. Read more

Annie Grace | 'It doesn't have to be all or nothing'

Annie Grace decided to quit drinking alcohol—but only after finding out why she felt the need to drink in the first place. Read more

Kamal Ahmed | 'I hope you come to the end of my book and feel a sense of hope'

Born in Ealing, west London, half a century ago to an English mother and a Sudanese father, Kamal Ahmed explores what it means to be... Read more

Horatio Clare | 'This diary has been a lifeline'

An odyssey through the landscapes of winter became a meditation on mental health and the human condition for writer Horatio Clare. Read more

Peter James | 'Good, intelligent thrillers are not bound by genre convention'

Peter James is best known for his police procedurals featuring Roy Grace, but his latest standalone thriller tackles one of the biggest questions. Read more

Kiran Millwood Hargrave | 'I’m always hoping the next book is the best book'

The third novel from Kiran Millwood Hargrave stays true to the territory that is her "first and greatest love"—and it’s her best to date, too.... Read more

Sarah Perry | 'The true Gothic is a sensation, not a genre'

Sarah Perry’s latest is a Gothic horror which makes us think about the human capacity for good and evil. Read more

Alan Rusbridger | 'Journalism can be anything—that is its great strength, or great weakness'

As the editor of the Guardian through a period of tumultuous industry change, Alan Rusbridger says that the news sector needs to be fixed.... Read more