10 Things I Want My Readers To Know About Me By Rosanna Ley

The first poem I ever wrote was called ‘The Sea.’ I was about seven years old. Yes, my love affair with the sea had apparently started even then. I don’t have the poem any longer – my parents probably chucked it away years ago - but I seem to remember one especially evocative line: ‘The sea, the sea, the sea, the wild and restless sea…’ Or something like that. Brilliant, huh?

My first writerly inspiration came from DH Lawrence. His writing moved me more than I can say. My favourite of his books is probably ‘Women in Love’ but they’re all great. I love the way he embraces language and takes his time to really explore places, people and ideas. He also now has a son of his own who will probably also think that he can fly; it’s bound to be in the genes, so at last Luke will know what it feels like…).

I write almost everything in a notebook first before I get it on to my laptop and this becomes the first edit. I know this is archaic. But it seems like a different process – I’m more comfortable with pen and paper and I feel I can access my imagination better that way. If I’m really rushed I will type straight on to a keyboard, but it never flows so easily (dammit).

My writing nowadays is inspired by West Dorset and the sea. I spent years wanting to move to this part of the world and I was happy to eventually fulfil my dream. I love the landscape here and it feels like my spiritual home.

I have to eat chocolate when I’m writing and often when I’m not. It is very powerful chocolate (90%) and probably helps my brain to function.

I read everything aloud to myself and sometimes to my long-suffering husband. This takes a long time but it is useful and revealing. It helps me spot repetition, sagging pace, and where dialogue is not working as well as it should.

I love watching Scandi-noir on TV. It is riveting and pretty soon you don’t even notice the sub-titles. Maybe I secretly already understand Danish, Swedish and Norwegian...

I relish research. Sometimes I think I could go on forever – it is just so interesting finding out about stuff. I might read a whole book and only get a short sentence from it in the end.

I love editing. (I know a lot of writers hate it). I enjoy playing with words and re-writing until I’m satisfied with it. This can take a long time! When my editor makes suggestions about changes, I mentally baulk at first (who doesn’t?) but when I see how a piece could be made stronger, I’m super keen to take up the challenge and have a go.