My wife said to me one day, “You’re always writing these dark and scary fantasies. Why don’t you write a proper scary story for a change —  a ghost story?”

I didn't think much about it at the time, but the idea must have lodged somewhere in my head because I started to talk to young people about ghost stories, and I soon realized two things: first, that everyone loves a real, true frightener of a ghost story; and second, that hardly any of them could name a single novel-length ghost story of any substance.

So I started to think a bit more about this, and pretty soon the image of Isabella came into my mind: an ill girl, stuck in a chair, barely able even to move any longer, but somehow holding onto life. The rest of the story flowed from that eerie image.

This is a very different book from my other novels. It has a more realistic setting for a start. Plus I had to do plenty of historical research to get the feel of the ghosts right. The whole novel was intriguing to work on, but perhaps I had most enjoyment when I donned my pure fantasy hat again to create the desolation of the Nightmare Passage. I’ll let you find out about that for yourself...

I guess Breathe is really about the subject of obsessive love. Can someone love too much - as Mary does - and where does that lead? In addition, if someone commits a terrible crime do they ever deserve to be forgiven? I don't think there are any right or wrong answers to such moral questions. But it's interesting to explore them. That is why, without giving anything away, I leave those final decisions up to the loved ones in the end. Only they can decide. Oh — and the reader, of course. What should happen to the ghost mother? I wanted you to think about it and decide for yourselves. One way or another I guess I'm always exploring the theme of love in my novels — different kinds of love, and how it is expressed, including the opposite of love sometimes. That's where the monsters — human an inhuman — come in!   

Breathe came about initially because my wife, Ciara, said that since I keep writing scary fantasy stories, I should write a proper scary story for a change. For her that meant a ghost story. When I started to look at what ghost stories  were available for young people, I was surprised. There were also plenty of ghost stories that were meant to be scary (like Goosebumps) but weren't. But where was the story to keep you up at night? I decided to write one.  

In most children’s fantasy/horror books the monsters start off horrible (e.g. Voldemort) and the only real question is how you defeat them. I wanted to start the other way: with a mother who could not be more loving, and then see what happens when her love fails to save her own child. Could she survive that? If she did, what would she be like? It’s a dark line of enquiry, but I thought it would be interesting to pursue.

No, though I’m keeping an open mind. Hold on, what’s that dark thing moving just behind my curtain?