Irish Fiction Month Sneak Peeks: Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick - Hagwitch

Today as part of Irish Fiction month I'm bringing you a glimpse at YA gothic thriller, Hagwitch, by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick which is being published by Orion Children's Books on 21 March.  . 

16th-century London, Flea Nettleworth, apprentice to a playwright, watches as his struggling master's fortunes turn, and all of a sudden London is in his thrall. But soon Flea's master can no longer tell where the imagined world ends and the real one begins. Could the arrival of a mysterious Faery hawthorn trunk hold the answer?

Modern day, Lally lives on a barge, roaming the canalways and performing shows with her puppeteer father. Then, after Lally's father pulls an ancient piece of wood from the canal and fashions it into a puppet, his success seems unstoppable. As her father's obsession with his puppet grows and his plays become darker, Lally begins to wonder if there is something rather sinister, dangerous even, about the wooden doll.

Marie-Louise kindly agreed to answer a few questions including where the inspiration came from for Hagwitch so I'll pass you over to her...