Deborah Harkness grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and has lived in western Massachusetts, the Chicago area, Northern California, upstate New York, and Southern California. She’s also lived in Oxford and London.

For the past twenty-eight years Deboarh’s been a student and scholar of history, and received degrees from Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, and the University of California at Davis. During that time she researched the history of magic and science in Europe, especially during the period from 1500 to 1700. These experiences have given her a deep and abiding love of libraries and a deep respect for librarians. Currently, she teach European history and the history of science at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Her first novel, A Discovery of Witches, was recently published by Headline in the UK.

We have to ask Are you a bookgeek?

Of course! How could a historian not be?

Do you have an audience in mind when writing?

Not really, I’m more focused on the story than its readers when I’m writing.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given (and do you follow it?)

Write every day—and yes, I follow it.

Where do you write?

I write in my home office, at a desk, sitting in a very comfortable chair.

What are you working on at the moment?

The sequel to A Discovery of Witches.

Which authors do you find most inspiring as a writer?

In alphabetical order: Aphra Behn, Christine de Pizan, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Edmund Spenser. Not the typical answer, I know, but you have to remember I’m a historian.

You have already written a non-fiction book; was the transition from non-fiction to fiction difficult? Was there anything surprising about the differences between the two genres?

I didn’t find it difficult, but that may have been because it wasn’t a deliberate transition. Becoming a novelist just happened because a story was building in me that I needed to get down on paper. As for surprises, I learned that characters behave just as badly as historical evidence. Both regularly refuse to do what their authors want.

What prompted you to write a work of fiction?

I wondered if there were witches and vampires all around us, what would they do for a living?

The science and history that twine through the story add an intriguing layer, do you have any suggestions for readers who want to know more about alchemists or the history that Diana investigates?

There is a full list on Amazon.com that I drew together for the US book. If it’s alchemy you are interested in, start with Bruce Moran’s Distilling Knowledge. It’s a great introduction.

Oxford’s Bodleian Library plays an important part in the story. Do you have any favourite libraries?

The Bodleian Library—hands down. The All Souls College Library comes in a close second, as does my undergraduate library at Mt. Holyoke College. And the Medici Library in Florence isn’t too shabby either! Really, however, whatever library I’m working in at the moment is my favourite.

Additional questions by Jennie Blake.

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