I grew up In South Africa and come from a line of French Huguenots that emigrated to the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1688. The vineyard that Charles Marais established in 1689 still exists, Plaisir de Merle near Franschhoek, unfortunately it is no longer in the family. My South African upbringing has had a profound effect on what I write - my first novel was set in the Boer War.

With my novels being based on actual historical events a lot of research is required of the characters, the events and the setting. I do a fair amount of reading and use the internet for images, but I do not overburden myself with facts as I do not want to stifle the story and I do shift things around slightly to help the flow of the narrative. I then plan the basic structure of the chapters and follow this with my first draft of the text. This is usually a free flowing process. I then return to add colour and descriptive flesh to the characters and landscape and make sure the facts are correct and the story line is consistent. I then read the entire book out loud and improve wording where the language does not read well. Then I get a proof-editor to look over it for structure, consistency and typos. I then read it aloud for a second time. It is a long process, but it is important that readers are offered a story of the highest possible standard.

A good question as there are many ways to approach this activity. But for me the answer is simple. I have a friend who is an amateur artist. So I gave him a draft of one of my chapters and asked if he would do a cover for me. I then took a photo of the painting and added the text. I did try and do some fancy cropping and turn it into a black and white version, but was told I in no uncertain terms by those to whom I showed revamped cover (I did not show it to my friend) to use the original as my friend had painted it! Examples of Matt Coburn's work can be found at www.theartcircus.com.