Well, dear readers, I am thrilled to chat with Jane Thornley today.
Welcome to my blog couch, Jane!
Hi, Julie.
Tell us about yourself, Jane. Besides being a novelist, I am also a knit designer creating evocative, free-range designs for adventurous knitters who prefer non-patterns. This is along the lines of ‘ knit the ocean’ or knit the Tuscan Hills. In another life, I was a teacher, professional librarian, and superintendent of schools responsible for 50 urban and rural P-12 public schools. When I graduated from that life, I returned to my default position of artist/author.
That is very interesting. What inspires you to write? Life! I liken it to a chemical reaction of imagination hitting the oxygen of life to create stories. Ideas, places, and people I meet brew up there in my soul and cranium until they combust into a story. By the way, I flunked chemistry but always aced art and literature.
I love the image of a chemical reaction between life and imagination! Tell me about your journey as a writer. When did you start and how do you keep the creative juices flowing? I can honestly say I’ve written for as long as I can remember. Writing gives shape to reality, placing it in context, or, at the very least, providing an escape hatch so we can better enjoy and understand it. I believe in escapism that gently helps inform our existence. I simply write to survive.
Give us the elevator pitch for your book, Jane. This is for my new book and not the thriller romp of a series for which I will release book 5 later this year. For the new psychological suspense Downside Up to be released next month:
High above the London streets, Jenna hunts her uncle’s killer. The police say his death was accidental but Aunt Clair calls it murder. Jenna tries to comfort them both by playing their old childhood game of ‘be my eyes’. But this game turns even deadlier. A real killer stalks the shadows below; Aunt Clair has dangerous secrets of her own; and Jenna must face her own damaged past before she can ever hope to claim her future. When a push sends Jenna crashing through the skylight of actor Nicholas Hewitt, she smashes into a fractured world of blood, glass and bodies. If she can’t tell up from down soon, everyone she loves will pay.
Sometimes we pick up the pieces only to discover what was broken all along...
Wow! That sounds exciting. Do you have a favourite character in your story? Who is most like you? Phoebe McCabe in my Crime by Design series is most like me. Interestingly, many readers claim she’s THEIR alter ego enacting an exciting life.
Who would you like to see play your characters in a movie? For Crime by Design, my readers have already selected Amy Adams as Phoebe and Colin Firth as Sir Rupert Fox. The jury’s still out for the romantic lead, but I’d vote for Rupert Sewell (I have the dark, handsome thing going on).
Do you have a favourite time of day and place to write? Do you have a routine? I always write first thing in the morning and go for 6 hours until noon or beyond, but it’s not so much of a routine as a compulsion. I have to write!
What do you do to market your book?
I have a newsletter list and I’m a big fan of Facebook marketing.
Who are you three top author crushes? Who would you most like to meet? I grew up on english literature but I don’t really have any author crushes. Is that weird?
Not at all! There are so many wonderful authors to choose from. What are your future plans for writing? I plan to keep writing forever but, in the short term, I’ll keep adding books to the Crime by Design series for as long as my readers call for new additions; Downside Up will be a trilogy so there are two more books coming there; and I’d like to revisit my paranormal historical suspense beginnings by adding to Frozen Angel’s ilk. I won’t let genre hem me in but character and suspense are definitely at the core if everything.
I love how many choices your readers have. That’s fantastic! What words of wisdom would you share with aspiring authors?
If you are a writer, nothing will stop you—not rejection, not occasional bouts of defeat, not those crushing spasms of believing you’re not good enough, not the loved ones patting you on the head for ‘writing something’ while not really taking you seriously. We’ve all been there and even success does not provide exemption. Get up, do as much as you can do to improve your writing, learn how to market, and get your stories out there. Your readers are waiting.
Thanks so much for joining me today, Jane, and sharing your story and inspirations. All the best!
Dear readers, below is the link where you can find Jane’s books. Stop by and check out her website.
Purchase link https://www.amazon.com/Crime-Design-Books-Jane-Thornley-ebook/dp/B01BVYA968/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1504371566&sr=1-1&keywords=Crime+by+design
Website http://www.janethornley.com/
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