Mantel and me on historical fiction
This post was originally published on Simon's blog, and is used with permission. Hilary Mantel can be blunt. As she revealed in a recent interview: ‘The most frequent question writers are asked is some variant on, ‘Do you write every day or do you just wait for inspiration to strike?’ I want to snarl, ‘Of course I write every day, what do you think I am, some kind of hobbyist?’’ I like the rage on display, the disdain for the ‘hobbyist’ label. But even if you do write every d