1.)
What is your favourite thing about yourself?
Oh, the hardest question first? How am I supposed to answer that? But if I must, I must.
I like to think I’m true to myself. I am what I am. I don’t care what I look like. I hate labels. I don’t think of myself as a writer, or a mother, or a woman, or anything. I’m just me and I like being me. There’s no-one else like me. (Some may say, thank goodness…)
Oh, the hardest question first? How am I supposed to answer that? But if I must, I must.
I like to think I’m true to myself. I am what I am. I don’t care what I look like. I hate labels. I don’t think of myself as a writer, or a mother, or a woman, or anything. I’m just me and I like being me. There’s no-one else like me. (Some may say, thank goodness…)
2.)
What do you wish you’d known before you started
writing?
This is definitely easier, but there’s so much I could write a book on it. If I had to bring it down to one thing, it’s this. I wish I’d known that writing is a craft.
I’ve been writing all my life, and I think I’ve always written reasonably well, but for years I was writing vast quantities and I never made any progress. When I was in my forties I went to a writing class and thereafter everything fell into place -- I realised that I had the tools but I didn’t know how to use them. I’d learned from reading but I didn’t understand structure and storytelling, or plots and subplots. That sort of thing.
When I look back at my pile of old manuscripts I see ideas with potential but no execution. If I’d known how to go about writing a book, rather than writing something that was book length, I think I would have been published much sooner.
This is definitely easier, but there’s so much I could write a book on it. If I had to bring it down to one thing, it’s this. I wish I’d known that writing is a craft.
I’ve been writing all my life, and I think I’ve always written reasonably well, but for years I was writing vast quantities and I never made any progress. When I was in my forties I went to a writing class and thereafter everything fell into place -- I realised that I had the tools but I didn’t know how to use them. I’d learned from reading but I didn’t understand structure and storytelling, or plots and subplots. That sort of thing.
When I look back at my pile of old manuscripts I see ideas with potential but no execution. If I’d known how to go about writing a book, rather than writing something that was book length, I think I would have been published much sooner.
3.)
Share a romantic moment in your life.
I’m surprisingly prosaic for someone who has six romance novels published, but for me there’s nothing more romantic than a glass or two of wine with the one I love on a summer evening…just the two of us and the sunset.
I’m surprisingly prosaic for someone who has six romance novels published, but for me there’s nothing more romantic than a glass or two of wine with the one I love on a summer evening…just the two of us and the sunset.
4.)
Is there one subject you’d never write about as
an author? What is it?
As my writing evolved and I’ve moved from romance to romantic suspense to crime, I’ve started writing about things I would never have written about previously, but my crime is relatively cosy and I still have lines in the sand. I don’t think I could ever write about child abuse or paedophilia, though my debut crime novel does feature the death of a child. And I can’t see myself writing about horror-style murders, with torture and mutilation. The word ‘gruesome’ in a book blurb is a complete turn-off for me.
As my writing evolved and I’ve moved from romance to romantic suspense to crime, I’ve started writing about things I would never have written about previously, but my crime is relatively cosy and I still have lines in the sand. I don’t think I could ever write about child abuse or paedophilia, though my debut crime novel does feature the death of a child. And I can’t see myself writing about horror-style murders, with torture and mutilation. The word ‘gruesome’ in a book blurb is a complete turn-off for me.
5.)
Do you have any suggestions to help someone
become a better writer? If so, what are they?
I think you can always learn something. As in my answer to your question above, I’d always advise a writer to study the craft. I’d also say: listen to advice. I use beta readers for my work and I beta read for others. Every time my beta readers come back to me they’ve spotted something in my early drafts that I’ve completely missed and which usually makes the book a whole lot better.
A follow up to this is that advice is often not what you want to hear. Don’t be disheartened. Consider it reasonably and if you think it’s wrong, ignore it. Because at the end of it, it’s your name on the cover.
I think you can always learn something. As in my answer to your question above, I’d always advise a writer to study the craft. I’d also say: listen to advice. I use beta readers for my work and I beta read for others. Every time my beta readers come back to me they’ve spotted something in my early drafts that I’ve completely missed and which usually makes the book a whole lot better.
A follow up to this is that advice is often not what you want to hear. Don’t be disheartened. Consider it reasonably and if you think it’s wrong, ignore it. Because at the end of it, it’s your name on the cover.
6.)
If you could be the original author for any
book, what would it be? Why?
I wish I’d written The Lord of the Rings. Fantasy is not my genre, but I think it’s an extraordinary work. It’s the book I’d take to a desert island.
I wish I’d written The Lord of the Rings. Fantasy is not my genre, but I think it’s an extraordinary work. It’s the book I’d take to a desert island.
7.)
What did you do growing up that got you into
trouble?
Nothing! I was pretty well-behaved, and as a teenager I was sullen rather than rebellious. The only time my dad ever used the immortal phrase “you’re not going out looking like that” was when I couldn’t be bothered to dress up if we were going somewhere smart.
Nothing! I was pretty well-behaved, and as a teenager I was sullen rather than rebellious. The only time my dad ever used the immortal phrase “you’re not going out looking like that” was when I couldn’t be bothered to dress up if we were going somewhere smart.
8.)
If I came to your house for dinner what would
you prepare for me? Why?
What do you like to eat? I would try and make sure you had something you liked, but assuming you aren’t fussy I would cook you my signature starter of deep fried brie in a parmesan crust, followed by a joint of beef with all the trimmings. I would buy an individual pudding for you (I’m trying to avoid sugar and if I made one I would just eat it) and there would be a cheeseboard and fresh fruit.
Bon appetit!
What do you like to eat? I would try and make sure you had something you liked, but assuming you aren’t fussy I would cook you my signature starter of deep fried brie in a parmesan crust, followed by a joint of beef with all the trimmings. I would buy an individual pudding for you (I’m trying to avoid sugar and if I made one I would just eat it) and there would be a cheeseboard and fresh fruit.
Bon appetit!
Jo
Allen was born in Wolverhampton and is a graduate of Edinburgh, Strathclyde and
the Open University, with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in geography
and Earth science. She’s been writing for pleasure and publication for as long
as she can remember. After a career in economic consultancy she took up writing
and was first published under the name Jennifer Young in genres of short
stories, romance and romantic suspense, as well as writing online articles on
travel and on her favourite academic subject, Earth science. In 2017 she took
the plunge and began writing the genre she most likes to read -- crime.
Now
living in Edinburgh, she spends as much time as possible in the English Lakes.
In common with all her favourite characters, she loves football (she’s a season
ticket holder with her beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers) and cats.
The
first in Jo’s crime series set in the English Lakes will be published by Aria
Fiction in spring 2019.
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Jo:
Blurb
The
charred remains of a child are discovered - a child no one seems to have
missed...
It's
high summer, and the lakes are in the midst of an unrelenting heatwave.
Uncontrollable fell fires are breaking out across the moors faster than they
can be extinguished. When firefighters uncover the body of a dead child at the
heart of the latest blaze, Detective Chief Inspector Jude Satterthwaite's arson
investigation turns to one of murder.
Jude
was born and bred in the Lake District. He knows everyone... and everyone knows
him. Except his intriguing new Detective Sergeant, Ashleigh O'Halloran, who is
running from a dangerous past and has secrets of her own to hide...
Temperatures
- and tension - in the village are rising, and with the body count rising Jude
and his team race against the clock to catch the killer before it's too late...
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