Feature from The Independent by Nicolette Jones about Susan Hill and her new children's novel The Battle For Gullywith
"I wanted to write a story children would want to get into," she says. "I wanted parts that were lovely, warm and magical to balance off the sinister bits. And I love doing scenes lit from within or without. Like the scene in Hardy's The Return of the Native where Clem Yeobright and Damon Wildeve are dicing on Egdon Heath at night, lit by glow-worms. I have... set-pieces I want to do and then I join them up like a string of beads. I even do it with the crime novels."
It infuriates me to the point of rage when the same authors, who hardly need the publicity anyway, are given lengthy media attention while fine writers like Charles Butler or Gaye Hicyilmaz are almost ignored. I wonder if the latter is even able to write any longer. The last I heard, she could barely manage to pay rent.