“ Copywriters, journalists, mainstream authors, ghostwriters, bloggers and advertising creatives have as much right to think of themselves as good writers as academics, poets, or literary novelists. Sara Sheridan
“ You've got to make an effort to get the details right, because even through someone picks it up and knows it's a novel, they know someone's made it up and they know it's not real, if you make a small… Sara Sheridan
“ Like most little girls, I found the lure of grown-up accessories astonishing - lipstick, perfume, hats and gloves. When I write female characters in my historical novels, getting these details right i… Sara Sheridan
“ I'm accustomed to reading Georgian and Victorian letters and sometimes you simply know in your gut that a blithe sentence is covering up a deeper emotion. Sara Sheridan
“ Our archives are treasure troves - a testament to many lives lived and the complexity of the way we move forward. They contain clues to the real concerns of day-to-day life that bring the past alive. Sara Sheridan
“ While I'm frustrated at the amount I'm expected to take on in the present, the 1950s woman was frustrated by being excluded - not being allowed to take things on at all. Sara Sheridan
“ I remember calling the council's cemetery department to ask about body decomposition in different soil types. Once they had verified that I was a novelist and not a sicko, they were extremely helpful. Sara Sheridan
“ When you think about the period in which Agatha Christie's crime novels were written, they are actually quite edgy for the time. Sara Sheridan
“ I'm drawn to the 1950s for lots of reasons - everything from the fashion to the increasing sense of freedom and modernity that builds throughout the decade. Sara Sheridan
“ In the middle section of the book Mirabelle breaks into not one, but two houses near Belgravia Books. I had fun scoping these out - checking which windows looked least secure and figuring out how to s… Sara Sheridan
“ Without archives many stories of real people would be lost, and along with those stories, vital clues that allow us to reflect and interpret our lives today. Sara Sheridan
“ I've found myself moved by letters and diaries in archives as well as trashy, summer blockbusters. It's possible to make a connection with any kind of writing - as long as the writing is good. Sara Sheridan
“ The fifties is a decade when every year is markedly different from the one before and after. That doesn't happen every decade. 1983 isn't that much different from 1986. But 1953 is very different from… Sara Sheridan
“ The financial value put on the job of the writer and the misconceptions around that make it extremely difficult to enter the profession. Sara Sheridan
“ In the 1950s at least less was expected of women. Now we're supposed to build a career, build a home, be the supermum that every child deserves, the perfect wife, meet the demands of elderly parents,… Sara Sheridan
“ Social and cultural history is often comprised of whatever diaries and letters remain and that is down to chance and wide open to interpretation. Sara Sheridan
“ I have become very aware how under-represented are the stories of the underprivileged and undervalued. Our records are, in general, very male and if not always the material of the rich, certainly (for… Sara Sheridan
