Steven Russell from the East Anglian Daily Times has interviewed Saskia Sarginson ahead of the much awaited release of her debut novel The Twins…

…In the interview Saskia talks about the influence of her Suffolk childhood in writing the novel, creating a setting that was both “bleak and beautiful”.

Saskia says of her mother Jill that she “was free-spirited, independent and unusual. She gave us huge freedom to wander about the forest on our own, so that sort of autobiographical detail is where it all came from.” The novel’s ghostly dog character Black Shuck was also taken directly from Saskia’s experience in the East Anglian countryside. “Of course we did believe in Black Shuck” she says, “so we always thought we might see that particular creature.”

Steven goes on to mention Saskia’s second novel which she is currently copy-editing, and is also based in Suffolk. “I’ve invented and island which is pretty much based on Orford Ness. It’s about a family with two daughters…set in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s too. I think the reason I like writing about period stuff is that you can go back and enjoy researching the era.”

Steven’s main query in the interview is where Saskia got the inspiration to right about twins. Her first born daughters are twins, but she insists the novel is not based on them. “You can never write about somebody you know” she says, “because it inhibits your imagination completely.” Instead, Saskia says she wrote about twins simply because “people are always fascinated by twins. It intensifies the sibling relationship hugely, which is good for fiction!”

The interview concludes with Saskia’s hopes for the future and a possible film and TV deal. “But for now I’m just writing stories in my head, and if people want to publish them and read them, the I just feel I’m totally privileged to be able to do that.”

The Twins is set for release on August 29th and is available now as an ebook.

To pre-order a copy click here