“It’s so strange, this idea that parts of your life are already determined. And would you want to know? I wouldn’t want to know.”

Do you believe in the supernatural? If not, what would make you believe? Or perhaps the question is, where? As a gothic museum home to people with outlandish theories, The Cloisters is the perfect breeding ground for supernatural belief.

‘The Cloisters: The Secret History for a New Generation’ is the new novel from Katy Hays. It follows the story of Ann Stilwell who discovers a once-thought lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards, and gets caught up in a web of ambition, toxicity and mystery. In this episode we delve deep into notions of fate, destiny and belief, and get an insight into Katy’s writing process.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The importance of setting in shaping the minds and beliefs of your characters.
• Why you should hold your endings loosely, and how to let your characters tell their own story.
• The key to outrunning your inner critic. 

Find out more about Katy here.

Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.

Behind The Spine is an inkjockey production, and the audio accompaniment to The Writing Salon. Sign up to the newsletter here.

You can buy copies of our anthology series here. 

You can view the full transcript here.

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