Research

So this weekend my wife and I went to the gorgeous little village of Corbridge, in beautiful Northumberland, where I did some wandering around the roman ruins of Hadrian's Wall in the name of research for The Concrete Grove.

I hadn't been up there since I was about fourteen, on a school trip, and the visit was a revelation. It reminded me why Northumberland is my favourite part of the country, and why the area has such a pull on me - both emotionally and creatively. The place is rich in storytelling material, and it's all just waiting to be picked up and worked into pieces of fiction.

I'll be heading back up there regularly over the next year or so, to top up the Concrete Grove idea well and pick up some of those bits of inspiration that lie scattered on the ground like unearthed relics.