I say this with every book I write, but it is true: I love doing the research and one of the best parts of the research is visiting the places that feature in the story. In many of the books it is the places that come first, inspiring the story in the first place and they are places I know well.  But whether I am visiting somewhere I see almost every day or somewhere I have never been to before, when I have my 'I'm going to write about this,' hat on, I look with different eyes. I note details I've never seen before. I look for nuances in the shadows, cracks in the masonry, sounds, smell, angles of light, and yes, which way is north south east and west.

I am not a natural photographer, preferring to make notes, to remember and describe places, so these pictures serve as an aide memoire rather than pieces of art. But I thought, as always, that they might be interesting for my readers, particularly people who live far away and may not have the chance to visit them in person.

With Sleeper's Castle we are in Wales, beautiful, green, leafy, mountainous Wales, steeped in history and legend and ghosts. And rain. And mist.