David Long - Non-Fiction Author and Former Journalist
David Long is a Blue Peter Book of the Year winner who spent 25 years as a journalist but now writes non-fiction for children and adults. His 70+ books have been translated into more than 30 different languages and he lives in Suffolk.
1. Where do you get your ideas from?
I write the kind of books I like to read, so if I’m looking for a particular type of book and can’t find it, I sometimes decide to research and write it myself. There’s no better way to understand a subject than to sit down and write about it.
2. Why did you begin writing? Was it because of a person or something else?
I’ve always written and became a journalist immediately after university. There are other authors in my family, so becoming one always seemed like a reasonable choice of career.
3. Do you prefer to work alone or with others?
I have to work alone and only occasionally envy others, like my brother who works in the music industry, so works alongside others.
4. What is the hardest part of your job?
Whatever an author thinks about his new book, he or she never knows whether it’s any good until it is published and people start buying copies – or don’t!
5. What part of your job do you have the most fun doing?
I love hearing from readers, and I always reply to letters and emails because it’s useful to hear their feedback.
6. What did you like to write and read as a kid?
I grew up in a house with thousands of books, so read whatever I could get my hands on. As a child, I never restricted myself to particular subjects or particular authors, but reading was always one of my favourite things.
7. What was your favourite subject in school?
History. It still is, which is why I write so many books about the past. I find it endlessly fascinating.
8. What is your schedule like when you’re writing a book?
I start quite early in the morning, like it’s a proper job (which of course it is). After lunch, I might revise what I wrote in the morning or – more likely – spend a few hours reading.
9. Have pets ever gotten in the way of your writing?
Ollie, my cat, is a great distraction but also great company as my children have left home and my wife, Rosy, works in the local hospital.
10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
Read as much as you can, and ask questions.
11. Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know (yet)?
I think riding a unicycle can’t really be that hard, even though I fell off when I tried to do it myself.
12. Do you write more than one thing at a time?
Absolutely not. I’d find that confusing and it would definitely slow me down.
David, thanks so much for taking the time to share your writing insights with our readers. Please follow David on social media and congratulate him on his upcoming release, What it was like to be a Norman, due out on October 8th, 2026 (soon-to-be-listed in our Bookshop)! Keep shining!
Website: www.davidlong.info
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