I'm not a natural researcher, and I don't get bogged down in it, but I think if you get it right in the first half, people will forgive you, and then you can move on with the story.
We all love a bit of 'true love conquers all,' and when I started on 'Poison,' 'Charm' and 'Beauty,' that was one rule of the fairy tale formula that I didn't want to break.
I'm a lot less travelled as an adult than I was as a child, but I think living in far flung places gives you a perspective on the world and people that adds flavour to your writing.
Anyone who has to have the word 'charming' in their name probably isn't - just take a look at any dating site where men use 'prince charming' in their description.
Oh, there's a teenage girl inside all women. It comes out mainly when we walk into a room filled with other women and immediately feel self-conscious. I do, anyway. I'm always convinced I'm going to fall flat on my face or something.
The Thames Torso murders almost fell into my lap. After deciding to use a real historical crime as the focus for the book, I went to Google and searched for unsolved murders in Victorian London, and they basically popped out at me about halfway down the first results page.
