2026-03-26
What makes you want to begin a novel?
A detail that stays. An image, a sentence, a situation where someone wants to say something and cannot. I do not always have the whole story at the start. Above all, I need to feel there is a person to discover behind that first impression.
How do you know a character holds together?
When I begin to understand their contradictions. If they exist only to move the plot forward, they remain flat. I try to give them reasons to act, including when they make a choice I would not have made.
What place do you give silence?
It is part of dialogue. We do not always say what we think when we think it. A gesture or an unexpected answer can tell more than a full explanation.
What would you like to leave with the reader?
The memory of an encounter. A character, a feeling or a question that stays a little beyond the reading. I prefer to leave room rather than tell readers what to take away.