When I started writing The House at Riverton I had very little expectation of publication. I’d already had a couple of manuscripts rejected, I’d recently had a baby, and I felt as if I’d dropped completely out of the world of publishing. I decided that the best thing to do was to forget about genres or markets and just write the book I wanted to read.

The Forgotten Garden was different insofar as I was contracted before I started and Riverton had already achieved a certain level of publishing success. I was waylaid in the beginning by the demands of sending Riverton into the world along with fears that The Forgotten Garden wouldn’t live up to expectations. After grappling with these demands I realised that I had to close my mind to external voices and just write for my own pleasure as I’d done with Riverton. I figured even if the book tanked at least I’d have enjoyed the journey!


Last updated on December 21, 2009 by Kate Morton