1)
What kind of music do you like?
Everything.
I was always a bit alternative, even when I was a student (think The Smiths and
The Cure) but I also love classical music. The only thing I really can’t abide is syrupy Christmas music so this is a bad season for
me, musically speaking…but I get
round that by putting on my current favourite (Robbie Williams’ take on swing). The good thing is that I’ll
always find some music that’s a
soundtrack for any story I happen to be writing!
2)
Describe your dream home…
That’s a difficult one. It would have to be something old, with a
feel of history through every stone. It would be quirky, with lots of window
seats and lots of views to look out at and pretend I was thinking instead of
procrastinating. I’d like to be
able to see hills and water and fields. And some interesting buildings. And I
don’t want to be too far away from a vibrant
village or small town with lots of different coffee shops. If you find
somewhere that fits the bill, could you let me know?
3)
Favorite literary hero & heroine?
I
really a feisty heroine and I know they’re
ten a penny in fiction. But my very, very favourite couple are actually
Shakespearean — Beatrice and
Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. They fight all the time, it’s genuinely funny… and
yet we know they’re made for
each other even though they don’t.
4)
What are you reading now?
At
the moment I’m reading and rereading the
draft of my current novel trying to work out what’s
wrong with it. I know should put it aside and read something else, and I have a
long list of books I want to read. They include books by my fellow Tirgearr
authors Romy Gemmel and Troy Lambert and a couple of novels about Italy which I
never got round to reading when I was on holiday there in August. (Just the
thing for Christmas, I hear you say…)
5)
What did you do on your last birthday?
Last
birthday came at a horrendously busy time in my life when all sorts of things
were happening. So I took the day off. I went out for breakfast. I went out for
lunch. I went out for dinner. And in between meals I did absolutely nothing, or
nothing of note. That may in fact have been the last time I sat down to have a
good long read.
6)
What comes first, plot or characters?
Location
comes first most of the times. Then the characters. Plot comes last. In my
recently-published book, No Time Like Now, the characters first came
into my head on a holiday to Majorca. I never forgot them but I didn’t know what to do with them. It was on another holiday to the
same place more than twenty years later that they finally met. The plot made
itself up after that.
7)
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
No,
but I’m a terrible procrastinator. If I can find
an excuse I will, but if you sit me down and make me write I’m never short of words, even if they aren’t very good. I used to think I suffer from the dreaded block but
I realised that it was just in my mind the first time I did NaNoWriMo (National
Novel Writing Month, when the challenge is to write 50,000 words in November).
When I have to write a certain number of words I always do… and behold, last year’s
rubbish draft is this year’s published
novel!
8)
Do you ever want to be someone else? Who?
I’m pretty happy being myself, to be honest. I live in a lovely
place and get to do the job I love. Of course there are little things I’d tweak — it would be
nice to be able to find and afford that dream home, for example! - but
generally speaking, it’s okay being
me.
9)
Tell us about your latest book?
It’s called No Time Like Now and I mentioned it above.
Geologist Tim Stone turns up at a field centre in Majorca where he’s horrified to find his old flame, Megan McLeod, who fled there
after the very messy breakup of their relationship. They’re not speaking, he’s
brought his new girlfriend with him and then Tim stumbles on something he
really shouldn’t have and he
has no-one to turn to for help but Megan. When they realise that his knowledge
could be the death of them both, they have to try and overcome the bitterness
between them…
10) What’s
next for you?
I’m working on another romantic suspense novel, this time set in
Italy. Strictly speaking it’s two books
because when I’d finished
the draft I realised that two of my secondary characters were demanding to have
their story told and so I had to draft that out, as well. I knew that if I didn’t get them both right at the draft stage I could be in real
trouble later on. Rich, spoiled heiress Leona and her sensible best friend Skye
head off to Italy for a month but Leona’s
wealth attracts the wrong sort of attention. The first book is Skye’s story and the second is Leona’s.
Excerpt: No Time Like Now
‘When you’ve finished your coffee, Megan or Catalina will show you your room.’
‘I’m going to finish getting the supper ready. Could Cat do it?’
‘Yes, I’ll do it.’
Tim placed his mug on the worktop. That suited
him fine. He didn’t
particularly want to spend time with Megan either. ‘If it’s okay with you, perhaps we could go now and I can get unpacked and
settled in.’
‘This way.’ Delighted to help, Catalina led him through the lounge where the
briefing meeting was already getting rowdy, into the hall where he retrieved
his luggage from among the rest of the kit, and up several half flights of
stairs. ‘I’m sorry, we’re really busy this week so we had to put you in the attic.’
‘It’ll keep me fit.’ When she’d gone,
he dropped his rucksack in the corner and took a look round. It was a nice
enough room, not too big but clean and bright, with a comfortable bed and — crucially — plenty of desk space. He stood for a moment looking out of the
window. Checked his phone. Stood and stared out of the window again as he
turned things over in his head. And over, and over, because the past was like a
snake that just kept rearing its ugly head to strike.
So, Megan McLeod. It was only for a month. And
she’d made it clear how she was going to handle it,
so he’d handle it that way, too. Remain polite, always
be civil. Give nothing away. And above all, never forgive.
About No Time Like Now
Hiding away from a disastrous past, Megan McLeod is getting along
nicely in her job as housekeeper at a university field centre in Majorca. But
the arrival of geological researcher, Tim Stone, throws everything into
disarray — because Tim was the father of the baby she lost
some years before and the two of them had parted very messily indeed.
As if having Tim on the scene wasn’t bad enough, he's there with his new partner,
Holly. But when in the course of his research he comes upon something extremely
nasty along the cliffs of north Majorca, he’s forced to turn to Megan for help.
Buy it from
Tirgearr
Publishing
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Smashwords
About Jennifer Young
Jennifer Young is an Edinburgh-based writer, editor and copywriter.
She is interested in a wide range of subjects and writing media, perhaps
reflecting the fact that she has both arts and science degrees. Jennifer has
been writing fiction, including romantic fiction, for a number of years with
several short stories already published. No Time Like Now is her second
published novel; her first novel, Thank You For The Music, is also set
on the Balearic island of Majorca.
Find
me on
Facebook
Twitter
@JYnovelist
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