Why did I write a fantasy novel? The answer begins with a map. The fantasy map. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. We instantly recognize the striking coastlines and improbable mountain ranges. If I don’t stop myself, I begin retracing Frodo’s path from Hobbiton to Mount Doom. It’s a path I’ve tread many times alongside the Fellowship, but once, long ago, places like Rivendell, and Moria were just words on a map. But what a beautiful map! I had been a reluctant reader as a child, but somehow I knew that map promised the intimidatingly thick book in my hands would be worth the journey.

So I read The Fellowship of the Ring and my love of fantasy books – and fantasy maps! – was born.