In a mere 15 minutes things went from a normal drive home to near chaos. Not much fun when commuting, but absolutely critical when writing. Creating conflict – putting your characters in peril or moral dilemmas or perhaps threatening their relationships – is key to keeping pages turning.

Miss Livingstone’s story has been entertaining to me as a writer as well as to readers partly because she seems good at getting herself into jams, and rather creative at getting herself out of them again. Many of my characters struggle with inner angst or subtle conflict, but her circumstances are dire, like suddenly finding herself on the deck of a dirigible, flying through the air, or so far back in time the sheer number of years incites terror.

The beauty of snowfall on trees is lovely in poetry, but for a story, give me a blizzard!