I spend time ruminating my reply as I go about my day, formulating sentences in my head, just for that one person. When I sit down with my steaming cuppa, pen in hand, I chat to that one person through my writing, pouring out my reflections, my hopes and fears. I find it almost meditative.

“Let us never underestimate the power of a well written letter,” says Bernadette in “Jane Austen’s Book Club”. Bernadette is referring to Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice”; Frank’s letter to Emma and Captain Wentworth’s note to Anne in “Persuasion”. A formidable list of love letters from the fictional world to add to my thoughts in Love Letters Going Cheap.

When I include a letter in a personal history book it reveals character and time-in-place. Featuring a letter also gives a book greater depth, texture and personality.

I coach my storytellers to write their stories as if they are writing a letter. I ask them to picture one person that they know would love to read their story and then to write to that person. Instead of meandering or getting mired in the mundane, their story is then framed and takes flight.

There is great power behind the humble letter.