Will Rycroft

narrative structure, which means that the reader is trying to work out when things have happened and what means what and exactly what has happened to this family.

With those different approaches, I wondered whether you were thinking of the reader in your mind when writing these books and I suppose what it was you were hoping they would get from reading.

I will come to you first, Madeline, because you're at the top of my screen.

And finally, Rebecca, for you, we spoke a little bit about the sort of space that you were leaving for the reader to fill in.

But I suppose what what kind of reaction or what you're hoping a reader would take away from reading Maybe Feed the King?

I love finishing a book where I go, wait, what?

Then it leaves me thinking about it afterwards.

You know, you've got some space to fill in there for yourself.

Just to finish off, the three of you as debut writers have achieved the first thing, which is to finish the book and to get that book published.

And then now with our booksellers having chosen these books to be on our shortlist and thinking that they're worthy of a much wider readership,

You are in a sort of, that puts you up a level on the echelon of debut writers.

And there'll be lots of people watching or listening to this who will be thinking about writing something or have been writing something and put it down or maybe about to submit something.

And I wondered whether with your experiences so far, you had any sage words of advice that you'd like to pass on to any budding debut writers.

Madeleine, I'll come to you first.

Some good nodding from your fellow authors there, obviously.

Angela, what would your advice be?

Excellent advice and how about you Rebecca?

Fantastic advice from all three of you there.

Some great, great conversation around your books.

As I say, they're all very, very different.