Ask the Author: Jane Risdon
Answered Questions (9)
Jane Risdon
Oh the cover on GoodReads was not put there by me...the former editor at the publishers came up with that one and as the cover has not been sorted yet, it is still up for discussion and agreement. I am sure by release date in November my co-author and I will have got them seeing things our way...lives in hope :) I like Dick Francis, he used to have a home near me in Oxfordshire at one time. I've read one Jan Ruth (a Facebook friend, as is Linda Gillard) but not the other writers. I think you will like OOW as it is character-driven with two POV, there is romance but not the usual romance I have looked in to. Very of the era, with music, fashion and world events so more a chunk of social history too. I have a couple of short stories in various online publications at the moment. Cue Murder in Cons, Dames and G-Men anthology on amazon, and The Debt Collector in The Writers Newsletter where I have another 2 stories going back a few months - all free to read and download. If you pop to my author blog or my Facebook author page you will find links. I do host guest authors too, not always crime as people do read and buy other genres. If you enjoy crime and some ghost stories you'll find some of my work free to read in various books and online places. Not just in books to buy. Have you ventured into Peter James, Peter Robinson or even my recent guest author Roger A Price for crime? I love their work. I like Elizabeth George too. If you look let me know. Have a fab week Jasmine. x Chat again soon I hope. x
Jane Risdon
Ms Birdsong is not cosy crime - far from it. She is a former MI5 officer who was 'voluntarily' retired after an operations went wrong with MI6. She moves to a small village where she tries hard to forget her former life but when a woman goes missing she agrees to help the son look for her. Cutting a long story short (novel length) she finds herself involved with Ukrainian gun/drug runners and Russian Mafia - people smugglers. Far from cosy. I don't write Chic Lit at all, Women's Fiction - Only One Woman is the story of the late 1960s told by two girls who happen to be in love with the same lead guitarist but it s far from a 'love' story in many ways. It s quite gritty. Jasmine, some of my crime is in In A Word;Murder, Shiver, and various shorts published online too. What sort of book do you normally read and who are your favourite authors?
Jane Risdon
Hello Jasmine, thanks for asking. Most of my writing is crime related and some have a touch of organised crime and even MI5/MI6 involvement in them. Ms Birdsong Investigates is all of these and more but this is not published until next year. I have written some Ghost stories which was fun and a challenge for me. My next novel is co-written with life-long friend and award-winning author Christina Jones and it is called Only One Woman and is published November 2017 by Accent Press. This is a change of direction for us both and is based on our experiences in the late 1960s and the music, fashions and world events then. It is a love triangle but so much more than that. Are you looking for a particular story? Let me know.
Jane Risdon
I cannot say I get writer's block. I do find it hard to write to order and sometimes I do gaze at the blank screen for a while, but all of a sudden, like writing songs, something pops into my head (usually a title) and then off I go. My stories seem to write themselves. I go for lots of long walks, take loads of photos of wildlife, countryside and old villages and buildings and these are like visual notes and can inspire me...so if you get blocked, go for a walk, talk to people or read a good book. I am sure something will start to unblock you soon.
Jane Risdon
I don't have to rush around like a headless chicken seeing to everyone else and their needs. I can do my own thing in my own time and I don't have to leave the house. I no longer babysit fully grown, spoiled adults, who are too selfish and egotistical to think of the needs of someone else; me or others working hard for them. I can sit in my PJ's if I want, drink tea and eat liquorice and have the TV or radio on...I can even belt out a few rock songs as I write. I am boss. I am free. I can be me.
Jane Risdon
Having put my own writing career on the back burner for years whilst I managed the careers of musicians, singers, songwriters, and producers, due to lack of personal time, and the sheer impossibility of writing whilst non-stop touring or recording, I would say go for it. Don't let people and their lives stop you doing what you want to do. If you want to write, then do it. By writing you will soon discover if you can do it or not. The more you try the better you become. I left it too long and put other people and their needs, their hopes and dreams, and their careers before my own.
That was a mistake. I always thought there would be another time, tomorrow, next week, next year and so on....I now know that tomorrow might never come; carpe diem.
That was a mistake. I always thought there would be another time, tomorrow, next week, next year and so on....I now know that tomorrow might never come; carpe diem.
Jane Risdon
Being a sucker for punishment I am working on several projects at once. My novel (series) Ms Birdsong Investigates about an ex MI5 Officer, voluntarily retired after a botched mission, who finds herself living in a rural village whilst keeping a low profile - many enemies would love to find her - she finds herself investigating murder. I am working on several short stories for various projects - mostly crime, but not all. And, I am writing a novel about two English men caught up in the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai in 2008, and another novel about two English musicians in Los Angeles to audition for a superstar's new touring band. I have plenty to keep me out of mischief.
Jane Risdon
My inspiration to write comes from all sorts of stimulate. News reports, someone I meet out and about. Often over-heard conversations at bus stops (My series God's Waiting Room is based on listening to people chat waiting for the bus), and of course my own life working in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and in the International Music Business. Something sets me off, a trigger from the above or just a daft thought comes to mind. Often get the title of the story before I know the who, what, where and why.
Jane Risdon
My inspiration for both stories I contributed to In A Word: Murder, come from my experience working in the Music business all over the world. The people I have met and the experiences I have been put through (sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying) has given me a wealth of material to plunder for my Crime stories and other stories. Working with rock bands and the way they interact with each other in the studio and on the road helped me with Dreamer and having lived and worked in Hollywood in the music and movie/television business helped me with Hollywood Cover Up. Both stories are based on real life - with a little poetic licence of course. Do let me know what you think.
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