A Chat With... Anton Du Beke

Strictly Come Dancing favourite, Anton Du Beke, talks about his new book Moonlight Over Mayfair and his love of beautiful hotels...

- Zoe West

After the success of my first book, One Enchanted Evening, I couldn’t wait to get started on the next one. Moonlight Over Mayfair is the second in a series set at the luxury Buckingham Hotel, and although it is a continuation of the first book, it can be read as a stand-alone novel, which was very important to me.

Character development is vital in my novels.

I sit there daydreaming and often wonder what my characters are doing. I am fascinated by people and psychology, so there’s a lot of people-watching that goes into forming my characters to make them come alive. I know what the people are wearing, how they walk, talk – it’s all in my mind’s eye.

I get carried away with the story. I just have so many ideas, but once you’ve made the decision as to what goes in and what doesn’t, you then start to relax into the story.