1. What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a vet until a life-changing visit to Lloret de Mar aged
eleven, after which I decided I was going to be a holiday rep. What could
possibly be more glamorous than living in a hotel, having a pool and taking
English tourists donkey-trekking?
2. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate?
Tea. I could give up most things, but not my cuppa.
3. What genre do you typically read? Why?
I'm a paperback tart and will read pretty much anything, so long as it's
well written with a strong story. That could be fiction, biography or history.
I love old Penguins and will often buy them because of the cover art. We're
fortunate in having a fantastic second-hand stall in the local market where I'm
often to be found gossiping about books with the owner and other like-minded
individuals.
4. Share a favourite childhood memory.
Family picnics on the sand dunes in North Wales, complete with gritty
egg sandwiches and enough sun to make your shoulders tingle. After rolling down
the dunes in my swimming costume, I'd be finding sand in my ears and
belly-button for days afterwards. Bliss.
5. Do you have any shameless addictions? ie. Tea, Books, Shoes, Clothes?
Not that I can think of, apart from tea. Oh, and cheese. And wine. And
books. (Obviously.)
6. What do you think is the biggest challenge of writing a new book?
If you're self-employed like me and have lots of competing deadlines,
finding the time to sit down and begin is the biggest challenge. Once I get
cracking and the characters take over, it's much easier!
7. Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages a day?
See above. However, I fully intend to turn over a new leaf and become
super-organised . . .
8. What are your thoughts on writing a book series?
Series are great because it means you can explore much-loved characters
and bring in new ones. I was delighted (and stunned!) to be asked by Waverley
Books to write a paperback for them called The
Bookshop Detective. The bookseller in question is Eleanor Mace who runs The
Reading Room in An Unexpected Affair
and A Summer of Surprises. I'm very
fond of Eleanor and her eccentric bunch of friends and family – especially
mother Connie and her octogenarian squeeze, Harold – so I'm hoping this new
venture turns into a series.
Jan
Ellis began writing fiction by accident in 2013.
Until then, she had led a blameless life as a publisher, editor and historian
of early modern Spain. She fell into fiction when a digital publisher
approached her to write a history book, then made the mistake of mentioning
women’s fiction, which sounded much more fun.
Jan’s stories have small-town settings with
realistic characters who range in age from young teens to eighty-somethings.
She is somewhat surprised to find herself a member of the Romantic Novelists’
Association.
The books
An Unexpected Affair, French Kisses and A Summer
of Surprise are published as ebooks by Endeavour Press. The paperback
versions will be published by Waverley Books in July 2016 and The Bookshop Detective will hit the
shelves in spring 2017.
In the meantime, I have a brand-new ebook due out with Endeavour Press
in March 2016. Cover reveal to follow! The book is provisionally entitled Kate in the City and here's the blurb:
"Kate has turned her back on
university and ended up working for an artisan cheese-maker in a small county
town. Life changes radically when she leaves home to take up a job in a
super-smart deli and restaurant in Chelsea.
Along with the job come new flat-mates,
including the fun, exasperating Imogen and her long-suffering boyfriend,
Freddy. Kate thinks she's doomed to early spinsterhood, but Immy has other ideas
and sends her colleague out into dating land with unexpected consequences for
them both.
This is a fun romance that takes the reader
from the King's Road to Cornwall with an eclectic bunch of characters including
an old hippy, a Russian property magnate and an ex-boyfriend who doesn't know
when to give up."
.........................................................
Find Jan's books here: http://goo.gl/Y86DWm
Follow Jan on Facebook and on Twitter @JanEllis_writer.
Website: www.janelliswriter.com
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