Susan Greenwood

Despite a love of literature, a degree in Zoology and a career in retail, it's a particular time in history that now fascinates me - not, though, the History I learned in school.

Always a collector of old things; useless tools and boxes as well as furniture and furnishings, I find it's the social history of the 17th century that really interests me and the more I research, the more I want to know. Having had the good fortune to live in old houses also helps to fire the imagination.

Although I now live in West Sussex, I spent my early years in the shadow of Pendle Hill in Lancashire where the myths and legends of witches formed part of my childhood and, of course, witch-hunting was an important event in the 17th century. The urge to include it in my stories was too great to resist and my first novel 'The House Book' was born.

With no thoughts of writing a second novel in the series, it was the 'witch' character (for want of a better word) who got under my skin and before I knew it, I was writing her life story. 'An Uncertain Legacy' serves as a prequel to 'The House Book' and I'm guessing she won't leave me alone until I've written the third, final part.