It was lovely to chat with Author Jan Selbourne. I love her new book, Perilous Love. The e-book is now available for pre-order at a sale price of $2.99, until the release date 29th March. Click here to read the Prologue and Chapter one.
I started by asking her a bit about her background, where she writes and what is a home like?
I grew up in Melbourne, Australia, and thank my parents and my teachers for my love of reading. After school, I attended a Melbourne Business college and worked for some wonderful companies in the UK and Australia. I have two fantastic daughters, one in the USA, the other close by, and an elderly stray cat who adopted me. I’m retired, my dining room table is my writing desk. I live in Lorn, the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia.
How long have you been writing, Jan?
I’ve always wanted to write, but it was always on the back burner because of work, marriage, and children. Twice, years ago, I sat down at my typewriter, ready – and didn’t know what to write about! Then, in 2014, after I moved to Lorn, I said ‘now’ and I began writing in earnest. I’m not sure what inspired me, other than my love of reading, admiration for some wonderful authors, and the urge to write. The ideas come very easily to me, often in the middle of the night, or driving my car. I find the afternoons and evenings are my best time to write.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
About eight or nine months. I always think I’ll zip through it, then I go back over what I’ve written and see a scene needing more detail or dialogue, or it just doesn’t read well. A lot of time is spent researching the era of my story, to ensure its as authentic as possible. Perilous Love is set in Belgium and England during the first days of WW1, and my second book, Lies of Gold, is set in England during the Napoleonic Wars. I wanted to portray the background correctly, like the value of money at those times, clothing, class distinctions, length of time traveling by steam train or horse and coach.
What kind of books do you enjoy reading these days? And what did you enjoy reading as a child?
I’ve always loved history, so historical books for sure. A good gripping murder mystery, occasional biographies. I’m easy, as long as it’s grabbed my attention by the second page. The first book that made me cry was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. My favorite childhood book was The Wind In The Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, and I loved Enid Blyton’s books.
Have you got any writing tips you would like to share?
I had to think about this question. There are many writing courses – How to Write a Book in 10 easy lessons, Avoid the mistakes that other writers make, etc. My tip – if you want to write, read books in the genre of your choice, do your research and write. The most valuable lesson I’ve learned was to edit, edit, take a break and edit again. When I was submitting my Lies of Gold manuscript, a publisher told me she liked it, wanted to find out the ending, but she got tired reading. When I stopped smarting over that, I knew I’d waffled on far too much. I couldn’t afford a professional manuscript editor, so I sharpened the razor myself. She was correct, over 4000 words were cut without it hurting one bit. A good tip would be, don’t get distracted when I’m doing my research on the internet. My main tip is don’t give up. Having our manuscripts rejected or ignored saps our confidence. Keep going, rewrite the story, or write another story, but don’t give up.
What does literary success look like to you?
Sales, of course, and knowing readers enjoyed my books.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
You should have started earlier, but on reflection, perhaps maturity has helped my writing.
Thanks so much, Jan for chatting here, I loved reading your book.
I’d love to hear your comments here on the blog, the BVS Facebook page, or my Facebook page. We have a twitter page too and we are always happy to follow people that follow us.
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Our latest releases
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Perilous Love by Jan Selbourne. The e-book is now available for pre-order at a sale price of $2.99, until the release date 29th March. Click here to read the Prologue and Chapter one.
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