Conversations with women (over 40): Deborah Harkness, 59

"A lot of people have a troubling and destructive midlife crisis. I wrote a vampire novel and it's really opened up my life in ways I could never have imagined."

I'm not sure if you know this about me, but I'm a bit obsessed with all things witchy. I've been a devotee of Deborah Harkness’ globally bestselling A Discovery of Witches series ever since a proof copy of the very first book landed on my desk and I tumbled headlong into the world of Diana Bishop.

But before she created Diana Bishop and the A Discovery of Witches universe, Deborah was (and still is) a scholar; a historian who teaches the History of Science at the University of Southern California. She is an authority on alchemical manuscripts and, for her doctorate, researched the history of magic and science in Europe between 1500 and 1700. Now, if you've read the books, that might sound a bit familiar! There's more. Just a couple of years ago, Deborah discovered she was actually descended from not one but two of the Salem women.

I met Deborah back in the summer to talk about the latest book in the All Souls series, The Blackbird Oracle, which takes us to Salem and the descendants of the witch trials. We discussed her life-changing cancer diagnosis, why women's pain is endlessly ignored, why she won't be blunting her sharp, pointy edges for anyone, and why she loves being the crone of dark academia…