JulieRyanBooks

Readers often ask me how much research goes into my books? Now if you mean checking facts on the Internet or doing a google search then I would say quite a lot. For my latest book, Finding Rose , I found I needed to do rather a lot more 'real' research, especially since this is a contemporary novel with a strong historical aspect. As part of the book is set in Tudor England (my favourite period) then it called for some more serious research in the way of visiting actual buildings. For a flavour of Tudor life then The Tudor house in Worcester is excellent. As you walk through the entrance, you are immediately transported back five hundred years. The physical sense of people treading the same floorboards as you all that time ago is very evocative and you half expect to encounter someone in Tudor dress just round the corner. Okay, so the staff have been known to dress up but it certainly adds to the ghostlike atmosphere. The Tudor house has been used for almost anything...

Readers are by nature curious and often enjoy a glimpse into the daily life of their favourite writers. Having written at the edge of the dining room table for the last three years, my beautiful desk staying in its box as we had nowhere to put it, I can now share with you my lovely writing space. When my desk was finally put together, I was almost in awe. The desk is placed by the window and the light reflects the sky onto the high gloss surface so as I write, clouds seem to scurry across it. I even find myself stroking it from time to time as if to apologise for the delay in unpacking it. The only problem is that I too am curious by nature and as the room looks out to the pub garden opposite, I find myself being ever so slightly distracted. Not to worry, I can always call it research and pop a couple of pubgoers into the next novel! So, with my notebooks neatly stowed in the drawers and writing guide at the ready, there really is nothing to stop me from being more organised...

Those of you who know me will realise that I write novels set in Greece. Having lived in Athens and Alexandroupolis in the 1980s, that's the period I'm most familiar with. I've been back on holiday to the islands since then but for the last few years life has just got in the way so a return trip hasn't been possible. Knowing how much I've needed and wanted to return, for research purposes of course, my hubby offered to take time off from his job to enable me to attend a writing retreat and get inspiration for my next book. For months I pored over different websites unable to decide between a tutored retreat or more of a writing holiday. In the end, the latter won, mainly because of dates and cost. The typically Greek photos set against the backdrop of stunning blue sea on the website won me over and I couldn't wait to visit 'Limnisa' in the Peloponnese. Owned by Anglo-Dutch couple, Mariel and Philip, they open their home for just a few weeks ...