Marisa inhabits two writing worlds. In one she’s a professor of history, a historical consultant for television, and the author of several history books on the French Revolution.
In her other world she’s writing fantasy for young adults that draws on her love for ancient Celtic Britain, folklore and belief in magic, ghost stories and the supernatural.
IAIP: What was the inspiration behind your Novel Award entry?
ML: Circle of Shadows was inspired by my love of novels from the historical era in which it’s set (late Victorian and Edwardian), especially supernatural fiction by writers like Bram Stoker, M.R. James and Arthur Conan Doyle. The starting point for my story was – what if the supernatural and occult world that these authors wrote about was actually real? Instead of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle’s famously rationalist detective, my own investigator into the occult is a young woman with a decidedly modern attitude.
IAIP: How long did it take you to write this book?
ML: About a year.
IAIP: What other books have you written?
ML: I’m a professor of history so I’ve written several scholarly history books. But my first novel is a young adult contemporary fantasy called The Binding Spell. It won the Times/Chicken House writing competition in 2023 and was published by Chicken House earlier this year, in May 2025. So after several years of trying to get the publishing world interested in my fiction writing, I’ve got two novels out in 2025. Surreal!
IAIP: Did you ever enjoy an Agent121 through I Am In Print? What sort of advice did you pick up?
ML: I had several agent 121s, for both my novels. I found them very helpful for introducing me to the world of commercial publishing and what the industry’s expectations are. It’s one thing – and already a huge challenge – to write a novel. But once you’ve done that, if you want to go down the path of being traditionally published, you have to be prepared to revisit your story, and think through what it needs in order to get taken on.
IAIP: Do you think this advice helped you shape the books you have in front of you today, or inform the writing of a new book? If so, how did it help?
ML: The advice didn’t change the actual stories; the inspiration for them came very much out of my own head. They were stories I felt a strong urge to write. It’s not that there aren’t other great ways of approaching a story or other stories to be told, of course; it’s just that, quite simply, if I didn’t pick the subjects I really cared about, I would never find the will and the energy to keep going and write them. Once you’ve done that, it really helps to get advice about how things may seem for the reader – I cut the word length of my first book substantially with that advice in mind. Definitely the advice I received made me think about things like the querying package, the pitch, possible recent comparables; all things that you may not think about when initially writing your story, but you definitely need to pay close attention to when you are hoping to get your story published and out into the world.
IAIP: How did you celebrate the Novel Award and Times Chicken House success?
ML: After years of getting nowhere, the successes came incredibly fast. Like buses, as they say. On a morning in November 2023 I went to hear the announcement of the winner of the Times/Chicken House at the Chicken House event in Foyle’s in London. To say I was astounded to hear I’d won is an understatement. I was actually speechless, not a thing that usually happens to me. Later that same day I went to see an exhibition on ‘Fantasy: Realms of Imagination’ at the British Museum. I’d originally planned it as a little consolation prize for not winning the Times/Chicken House. And then . . . I was looking at first editions of some classic books of fantasy, books I’d long adored, and trying to take in the news that own first fantasy book would actually one day be published, when the call came from Elane and Sarah to tell me about the success of Circle of Shadows in the I Am In Print competition. I felt like I’d gone through the door into Narnia, especially in the company of all those classic fantasy books in the museum. Everything had changed.
IAIP: What has happened since you won both of these competitions?
ML: Part of the prize for The Binding Spell was publication. In the wake of winning that, adult publishers got interested in Circle of Shadows. Less than three months later, Circle of Shadows was taken on in a two-book deal with Hodderscape. After that, the work began of editing both books. I found the editing really interesting and helpful. I listened to both my editors and tried to take their advice. It’s a great experience to work with people who believe in your book and want to help you make it the best it can be.
IAIP: Do you have any tips for anyone thinking about entering a writing competition?
ML: Keep going, enter everything you can. Give it your best shot, then put it out of your head, and go on to the next endeavour, and the next. This profession is all about resilience, perseverance, and luck. You will almost certainly get many rejections – I certainly did, for both those novels. And it hurts a lot, of course it does. But if you don’t keep trying you won’t be there when the luck finally turns your way.
IAIP: What is next for you?
ML: I’m working on the sequel to Circle of Shadows, and enjoying the experience so much.
Website: www.marisalinton.com
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