Hello,
I’m Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars, The Foundling, Mrs England and, as of April 2024, The Household.
My journey so far…
The bestselling debut novel of 2019
Six-times Sunday Times bestseller
Three-times Sunday Times No.2 bestseller
Approaching 1 million copies sold across three novels
An international bestseller published across 24 territories
Winner of the inaugural Women’s Prize X Good Housekeeping Futures Award
Winner of a Betty Trask Award
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut Book of the Year
Longlisted for the Portico Prize and the Walter Scott Prize
What is Housekeeping?
Housekeeping is a newsletter and dedicated space where I’ll share exactly how I wrote my fourth novel The Household, from first to final draft, with some musings on writing and creativity along the way. This is a place for those who are curious to know how my books evolve from an idea to a fully-formed object sitting on a shelf. As someone who has never taken a writing course or studied history beyond GCSE, I’m proof that neither of those things are necessary to make it as a historical fiction writer. I learned my craft by writing and reading, and I’m obsessed with how other writers work. So if you’re as nosy as I am and want to know how I research, write and edit, you’ve come to the right place. Maybe you have an idea for a novel and don’t know how to begin, maybe you’ve finished your manuscript and want to fine-tune it, or maybe you just like my books and want to know what happens behind the scenes – all are welcome here.
Housekeeping will be free until April 2024, when The Household is published. After that I’ll be sharing in-depth insight into how I approach scenes, characters, storylines and structure, and this will be available to paying subscribers. To access the archive, you’ll need to subscribe.
Why subscribe?
Have you ever wondered how writers evolve their manuscript from trash draft to proof pages? Come behind the scenes with me as I sculpt my manuscript and make decisions on character, plot, structure, twists and reveals. Starting from chapter one and featuring excerpts from my first draft, I’ll share with you my writing process from beginning to end, explaining how and why the story takes shape as it does. Spoiler alert: once the book is published, there will be spoilers! I’ll be breaking down storylines, so plot reveals will be made along the way. I recommend you read The Household first, to avoid disappointment. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website, and never miss an update.
