Authors who keep it in the family are increasingly common – see Lee and Andrew Child, Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman, PC Cast and Kristen Cast – as well as our own mother and daughter writing duo Anna and Jacqui Burns. Today, we’ve settled down with a cup of tea and a slice of bara brith to catch up with Anna and Jacqui ahead of the release of Escape to Pumpkin Cottage …

Q: What made you decide to be published under both names, rather than collaborating under a single pseudonym?

Anna and Jacqui – We wanted our readers to know that we are a mother and daughter writing team as it could be regarded as our unique selling point, although as you rightly say, there are more family collaborations in recent years. We did debate whether to change Anna’s name because of the Man Booker Prize winner Anna Burns of Milkman fame, but we felt that as both our names were on the front, there wouldn’t be any confusion.

Q: Who wins the argument when you differ over a plot twist or a character’s reaction while writing?

Jacqui – It’s whoever argues the most vociferously at a given time. There was a particular instance in Escape to Pumpkin Cottage – it’s a scene in a hot tub is all I’ll say – and I put words into the mouth of Anna’s younger character. Anna dug her heels in and told me in no uncertain terms that a young person would not say the words I’d written. I had to give way, but there are instances where I have argued a point and won!

Q: What drew you to writing about Wales (Pembrokeshire in Poles Apart) and the Welsh border (Wye Valley in Escape to Pumpkin Cottage)?

Anna – It seems to be wherever we’ve taken the latest holiday. As most writers would testify, we’re often inspired by scenery. We both love Pembrokeshire as it’s close to home with a breathtakingly beautiful coastline, which is perhaps not celebrated enough in writing. We spent some time in the Wye Valley last year. It was stunning so it prompted us to set Escape to Pumpkin Cottage there. Anyone who knows the area will be able to guess which villages Riverdean and Greenbrook are based on. Our last break was in the Lake District and we couldn’t help dreaming up a plot for another novel.

Q: Are there common themes you tend to explore in your novels?

Jacqui – All our novels explore deeper themes, despite the humour we try to inject in them. Our character Meg in Poles Apart has a stoma and struggles to navigate the dating scene when she hasn’t really come to terms with what has happened to her. Anna is a doctor and did a lot of research for the character and we have had readers who suffer the same condition as Meg and say her thoughts and feelings are very authentic. In Escape to Pumpkin Cottage, Jenny is married to Phil who has early onset Alzheimer’s. I spoke to lots of people who are going through the same experiences as Jenny. There is a lot of love and humour in their relationship, despite this awful thing that is happening to them. I’ve always noted how comedy and tragedy are close bedfellows.

Q: What has surprised you the most about being published authors and do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Anna – The whole process of promoting our books has surprised us. Writers can’t hide away in their ivory towers, but have to be really proactive in marketing their books. We love giving book talks and never refuse anything that’s offered to us. We would like to do more, in fact. Having said that, I have an eighteen-month-old, and I’m back in work, so life is a constant juggle at the moment.

Jacqui – I notice that whenever people find out I write, they confide in me about how much they’d like to write a book. It is hugely competitive and not for the faint-hearted, but that shouldn’t put them off. I would tell people that they have to have self-belief to succeed and the conviction that no one can tell their story like they can.

Anna – Oh yes, and to give yourself permission to write very badly. That first draft is going to be awful, but keep going, don’t look back and you’ll eventually finish it. Editing is the time when you hone what you’ve written and agonise over the minutiae.

Poles Apart and Escape to Pumpkin Cottage are out now and available to buy on our website.