I have done it again, and written a book that has maps.

The map in Folk was made by my artist aunt, who copied - and greatly improved - the biro version I had drawn in order to keep track of my characters and their houses on the small imaginary island of Neverness. The maps in Mischief Acts are based on real maps of a real place: the Great North Wood, which used to cover a huge part of what is now South London. They track the shrinkage of the wood over the centuries, as enclosures and then urban sprawl engulfed it.

The maps here are photographs of early sketches by the wonderful artist, Emily Faccini. To see the final versions, you guessed it: you'll have to get hold of the book! But if you are familiar with South London, hopefully you will recognise the shape of the Thames at the top, and the fragment of forest left in the final map, representing Sydenham & Dulwich Woods.