Today Jane Risdon tells us about her writing life.
What genre would you
say your novels fall into, or do they defy classification?
I like to think of myself as a crime/thriller/mystery writer
because that is what I read and most of what I write falls into this genre.
Having said that, I have ventured into other genres such as Women’s Fiction – I
co-wrote Only One Woman with Christina Jones (Headline Accent) and that was my
first outing with women’s fiction. I also write adventure, humour, and I’ve
been known to dabble in the odd ghostly tale and some time-shifting stories.
The strange this is I’ve never read women’s fiction, time-shift tales or ghost
stories, but what I have written, to date, seems well received. It has been
challenging, I must say.
What made you choose that
genre?
Crime is where I feel most comfortable and I suppose I decided to
write in this genre because it is the one I read, as I said, and also because
it really intrigues me. I love anything to do with the topic and enjoy trying
to pit my wits, solve crimes in books – well, attempt to – and get deeply into
the subject whether it is in real life or in a book; the what, when, where,
why, how, who, and so on niggles me until I know, and Cold cases are
particularly of interest to me, such as the Jill Dando murder and similar
miscarriages of justice.
How long does it take
you to write a book?
Good grief, how long is a piece of string? I can write very
quickly once I get going and I stick at it like a terrier until I write The End. Only One Woman took about 3
months to write and then I sent it to my co-author for her to write her parts.
That took much longer. Everyone has their pace and, of course, real life
intrudes and must take precedence. Research can take a while however, in
addition to writing.
Ms Birdsong Investigates (still to be published) has been an
exception in that I completed it in 2011. At first I wasn’t sure what to do
with it, I hadn’t been published at that time and I wrote it for myself.
However, in 2012 I had several short stories published in various anthologies
and this spiked my interest in being published. I put some feelers out, not
really proper approaches however, and a publisher contacted me about two
anthologies they were compiling. They were interested in including some of my
work. One thing led to another and I was signed to them in 2014.
Meantime Ms B was put on the back-burner because my
publisher wanted to publish Only One Woman first (in 2017 eventually) – I’d
submitted Ms B by this time. I asked for it back in 2014 and worked on it,
updating it and refining it. Mostly because there had been changes to the way
MI5 and MI6 operated and I needed to update my content.
Ms Birdsong went back
into my publisher and was put into their submissions file as they were not
accepting anything for publication for months, and then they were sold to
another, bigger, publisher, and this is where I am now. One book ready to go,
another two in the series, in various stages of completion. So how long does it
take? I live in hope.
I’ve contributed towards many anthologies since 2011 and
with permission from my previous publisher, Undercover: Crime Shorts came out
with an Indie Publisher. This collection of short stories comprises stories
I’ve written over 10 years and there are another 100 where they came from.
Also, there are another 5 novels sitting on my computer written between 2011
and now.
What is your work
schedule like when you're writing?
My work schedule depends upon so many things but basically I
do social media and interviews, blogs and emails until about lunch time and I
write in the afternoon and possibly into the late evening. If ‘real life’
intrudes I will do bits and pieces here and there. I often write during
weekends unless I decide to go walking when I usually take photos. These can
sometimes be for locations for stories, but mostly because I love taking
photos.
Tell me something
about yourself your readers might not know.
Something my readers might not know about me is a difficult
one. I’m sure most know I was in the international music business, managing
singers, song-writers, musicians, record producers and placing music into
movies and on TV and will have possibly read blogs I’ve been interviewed for,
or my series in Writers’ Magazine which details some of my experiences.
During a long tour of the USA with a young rock band when we
were doing summer festivals, live appearances on TV, Radio, and Video Stations,
we were driven quite often by someone from the record company or the local radio
station we were guests. We’d been driving from Florida to Seattle, through some
of the most gorgeous country and we got to spend a great deal of time in Texas.
On one occasion were chased by Mexican gun-men in an open back truck for miles
and miles at night. We’d no idea what they wanted but our driver was armed to
the teeth – so we discovered to our horror – and promised we’d go down
‘fighting’ if they caught up with us. Thankfully a Highway Patrol team saw what
was happening when we passed a gas station, and followed in hot pursuit. We
managed to get away and have no idea what happened. This was not the first
encounter we had with guns and dodgy situations.
We went on to stop off at a USAF base – no idea where
because there were so many places in a short period of time – but we were
paying a visit to a friend of our driver who was once in the USAF with him. We
spent the afternoon in the air-traffic control tower where I was allowed to
‘talk down’ several B52s pilots who were
doing short take off and landings on the runway and had to be ‘guided’ by me on
approach as they rehearsed the touch-down landings they were making, barely
touching the runway before taking off again. I loved it. It was thrilling being in control of the huge
planes and crews.
When did you write
your first book and how old were you?
I attempted writing a book (novel) about 30 years ago but a
friend read some of it and said it didn’t ‘sound’ like me talking and she
really knocked my confidence. I didn’t try again in earnest until 2011 when I
started two books: Only One Woman and Ms Birdsong Investigates.
What do you like to
do when you're not writing?
When I am not writing I enjoy Family History Research and
I’ve successfully traced long-lost relatives all over the world. I do a lot of
walking and love the countryside and seeing Country houses and gardens (I
belong to the National Trust), and villages, churches, and cathedrals. I always
take lots of photos. I love reading, and listening to my husband playing his
guitar and song-writing. After decades
on the road with musicians and all their noise and energy, I value and love
peace and quiet.
What was one of the
most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
I was, and still am amazed when writing my books and short
stories, at my ability to create murderous plots and evil characters. I must
have a criminal mind. I’m constantly surprised and delighted by readers who
seem to enjoy my efforts in whichever genre I write. I write for myself and it
is a thrill when someone says they’ve read and enjoyed my writing. I never
imagined anyone would.
How many books have
you written?
How many books have I written? Wow! Do you really want to
know? I’ve written and published the novel, Only One Woman, with Christina
Jones (Headline Accent), and a collection of my short stories, Undercover: Crime Shorts (Plaisted Publishing).
I’ve contributed to 16 published anthologies to date, all
residing on my computer along with about 100 short stories awaiting publication,
and also 6 or 7 novels. One novel is the sequel to Only One Woman, which I’m
writing now. Another is Ms Birdsong Investigates, which is ready for
publication and there are 2 other books in the series almost ready to go. I
also have a couple of books which I need to go back to and fiddle with before
presenting them for publication.
Do you Google
yourself? What did you find that affected you most (good or bad)?
No, I have not Googled myself, I’m too terrified to. My
husband has, and I refuse to hear what he’s found.
As a child, what did
you want to do when you grew up?
Being the eldest of 6 children and a few years older than
the next in line, I was quite a lonely child and found my ‘friends’ in books,
and creating my own by writing stories. I lived life inside my head, having few
real-life friends. However, I had a vivid imagination and always wanted to be a
writer – a war correspondent was my first career choice which never came off – I
imagined travelling all over the world writing about what I’d seen. Sadly, back
then there were few serious female journalists, let alone war correspondents, and
I was talked out of that at school.
I’ve always had a creative side and part of me thought I’d
be the next Anna Pavlova or Doris Day. My parental’s
were disapproving and I had to settle for ballet classes and the odd appearance
in school plays. Music was a passion and I suppose my creative abilities were
fulfilled once I married a musician and eventually got into music management
and production. Writing was always lurking in the background and when our musical
life became less important, writing took over. And here I am now. A writer. I
hope.
Bio:
Jane Risdon has spent most of her life working in the
International Music Business rubbing shoulders with the powerful and famous,
especially in Hollywood.
Married to a musician and later working alongside him
managing singers, musicians, songwriters, and record producers, she’s also
facilitated the placement of music on successful television series and movie
soundtracks.
Her experiences have provided her with a unique insight into
the business and her writing often has a music related theme.
With long-term friend, award-winning, best-selling author,
Christina Jones – one time fan-club secretary for Jane’s husband’s band – Jane
has co-authored Only One Woman (Headline Accent) which is set in the UK music
scene of 1968/69.
Recently Jane completed and published her first collection
of short crime stories – Undercover: Crime Shorts (Plaisted Publishing House
Ltd).
Jane regularly writes for online and print magazines and has
contributed to 16 anthologies. She also has a blog and often hosts guest
authors. She is a regular guest on blogs and on internet radio shows
broadcasting with a global reach.
Her books are available in Waterstones and all good book
stores as well as via various digital platforms such as Amazon.
Jane Risdon Links:
https://janerisdon.com
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