Diane Setterfield
Author Interview - Diane Setterfield
Author I draw inspiration from: For the creation of suspense, it has to be Wilkie Collins.
Author Interview - Diane Setterfield
Favorite place to read a book: Winter: at home, by the fire, with plenty of cushions and a pot of tea to hand. It would be great if my neighbour’s cat was there too. Summer: on a bench, by the river, with homemade sour lemonade.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: I’d love to meet Frankenstein’s monster. I’m full of curiosity about him, as well as feeling very sorry for him. If he started to act dangerous I’d remind him (and myself) that he is fictional and I am real and that our capacity to do harm to each other is zero.
Author Interview - Diane Setterfield
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: The same moment I realised stories were created by human beings and not forces of nature, like clouds or earthquakes. That was knowing I wanted to be an author. The confidence to actually do it came decades later.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Not ebooks, but any of the others depending on circumstances. Audiobooks are great when you’re decorating because it would be dangerous to be up a ladder with a paintbrush and a pot of paint while reading a print book.
The last book I read: Madeline Miller: The Song of Achilles. Word perfect, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
Author Interview - Diane Setterfield
Pen & paper or computer: Both, at different stages of creation and depending on how comfortable my hands feel. It’s good to switch I think.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: I spend far too much time with fictional people as it is. Besides, the characters that fascinate me in books tend to be people I’d avoid in reality. I adore a well-written villain, but I don’t want to befriend one.
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: Librarian or bookseller; cabinet maker; counsellor or psychotherapist; painter and decorator; teacher. But writing makes me happy and I’d really miss it.
Favorite decade in fashion history: Now, because women can wear flat shoes and still be thought stylish.
Place I’d most like to travel: Canada.
My signature drink: Tea. Earl Grey, jasmine, mint, chamomile, green.... it’s a long list.
Favorite artist: Sophie Ryder. I’d like one of her Minotaur sculptures.
Author Interview - Diane Setterfield
Number one on my bucket list: Read every book in the world. Except Moby Dick, La Condition humaine and anything by Tolkien.
