Clare Rhoden

Jennifer Bohnet and the continental writer’s life

Jennifer Bohnet is an English writer whose thirteenth novel was published earlier this month. She has sold hundreds of shorts stories to the women’s magazine market in the UK, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark. She even had her own newspaper column in a group of local Devon papers at one time. Jennifer’s latest book (impressively, number 13),  Villa of Sun and Secrets , was published by Boldwood Books on 8th August.

I’m very interested to find out more as Jennifer is a long time resident of France. Not just ‘France’, but a cottage in Brittany, with family and dog and cats and ducks and chickens … It sounds like a dream come true. (What do you mean, I sound envious?!)

Welcome, Jennifer! You live in France, I believe, and have for quite a while. It sounds like it is a brilliant place to write.

Jennifer: I find it hard to believe but I’ve lived in France now for twenty years. After eleven years down on the Cote d’Azur where Richard was a guardien for a villa, we moved from the Mediterranean coast to a small quirky cottage in the depths of Brittany. A bit of a culture shock to say the least!

And your latest book is described as ‘an escapist summer read’ – it looks great. Can you tell us something about yourself that you think anyone who reads your book/s really ought to know?

I write contemporary women’s fiction set in places I know well and I stay true to those settings in my books. If I mention a certain street or building by name, or an historical incident that has a bearing on the storyline, it exists or the event did take place. My characters are imaginary though.

What is your favourite scene from your own writing? Why?

In my latest book Villa of Sun and Secrets I really enjoyed writing the scene where Josette meets Gordon for the first time. It’s winter time and Antibes, in the south of France, has had a snow storm – yes it does happen! Here’s a snippet of the scene:

Back in early January, after a disturbed night listening to a ferocious blizzard battering the coast, Josette had got up early and discovered the Riviera slumbering under a heavy and unexpected snowy duvet. Within minutes, she was dressed and stepping out into an eerily silent town, making her way through the empty streets to the nearest park, just one thing on her mind. Once in the park, she began to make a snowball, rolling it through the pristine snow and patting it together. When it was too big to move, she began to make a smaller one.

She barely registered the first snowball that hit her in the back, she was concentrating so hard, but the next one, arriving seconds later, got her full attention. Oooh – somebody wanted a snowball fight, did they? Carefully, she placed the smaller snowball on top of the first one before swiftly bending down, gathering a handful of snow and turning, throwing it expertly at the child who’d thrown the snowball. Except it wasn’t a child. It was a man. A man who smiled and threw another snowball at her, calling out, ‘Game on,’ as he did.

The image of these two people in their 70s having childish fun together brought a smile to my face as I wrote it.

That’s fabulous, I love it. You said earlier that settings and historical events in your novels are based in fact, but that your characters aren’t.  If I told one of your characters (you get to choose which one) that they were imaginary, how would they respond?

I think Anna, the main heroine in Rendezvous in Cannes, would laugh and say, ‘I’m involved in the film world, darling. Everything in that world is a product of someone’s imagination – including me!’

rendezvous in cannes by jennifer bohnet

She sounds delightful! Can you think of any books and/or writers who inspired you on your path to be an author? Can you tell us about that?

Oh a difficult question! I’ve always wanted to be a writer and I’ve always read a lot. When I read Katherine by Anya Seton years ago, I longed to write historical stories – and quickly realised that wasn’t my genre when I tried. Penelope Lively’s The Ghost of Thomas Kempe and Philippa Pearce’s Tom’s Midnight Garden had me trying my hand at children’s books, again not my genre to write (although YA might tempt me yet). Favourite authors of the last ten years or so have included Joanna Trollop, Marcia Willett, Veronica Henry, Jill Mansell, Erica James – I suspect all have influenced me and my writing in someway.

Take yourself back ten years – what would you like to tell yourself?

To stop worrying about the future that things would work out  – and they mostly have.

Good advice! What’s next for you in the world of writing?

My next book with Boldwood Books will be out February 2020 and I’ve got two more books to write for them – as well as editing my backlist for re-publishing. It’s going to be a busy winter!

It certainly is! And finally: Who would you be if you were a fictional character – one of yours, or someone else’s?

I think I’d enjoy being Eloisa from my novella You Had Me at Bonjour. Half Italian, half French slim and fun, she’s a feisty lady with attitude – a good attitude I hasten to add – who grabs life and seizes the day. A true extrovert – unlike me in real life.

You Had Me at Bonjour by Jennifer Bohnet

I’d very much like to meet her – but it has indeed been a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us on last Word of the Week. More power to your pen!

Jennifer’s Links:

Amazon link: http://mybook.to/VillaofSun

Website: http://www.jenniferbohnet.com/index.html

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/JenniferBohnetNewsletter

Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/@jenniewriter

Amazon.com author page: http://amzn.to/299rvVv

Facebook Author page:  goo.gl/PDKQ8D

Meet Philippa East, a mindful writer

Philippa East, writer of prize-winning short stories, was recently signed to a two-book deal by HQ/HarperCollins. Her debut novel, psychological thriller Little White Lies, will be released next February. It tells the story of a missing child who is found several years later … or is she?

Welcome to Last Word of the Week, Philippa, it’s lovely to meet you. Can you tell us something about yourself that you think anyone who reads your book/s really ought to know?

Philippa East, author

Philippa: I work as a clinical psychologist and therapist, so people often ask if I get story ideas from my work. I have come across quite a few unusual and often extreme stories from people’s lives but I’ve never been involved a real-life case like the one in my debut book – probably because it’s a situation that is almost unheard of: a missing child being found alive after such a long time. So even for me, it was quite a leap of imagination to put myself in the shoes of the various family members and think about how this one-in-a-million event might play out.

Saying that, I still wanted to explore in the book some of the themes that I frequently come across in my psychology work. For example, the different ways in which we try to cope with guilt; how trauma affects not only victims but also those closest to them; and how powerful a simple acknowledgement of wrongdoing can be.

Psychologist, eh? *sits up straighter* What is your favourite scene from your own writing? Why?

Oh gosh, that’s a hard question! I tend to grapple so much with writing and editing my scenes that it can be something of a love-hate relationship! Saying that, there’s a pivotal scene in Little White Lies  when my two teenage characters visit a fairground and find themselves right on that thin edge between excitement and terror – a sort of borderland between childhood and adulthood. I visited funfairs a lot growing up (one used to set up just across from our house) so the scene brought back a lot of visceral memories for me.

Finding the right ending for the book was a challenge, but also a really rewarding experience. The book is written from two alternating points-of-view (that of the abducted girl’s mother and that of her teenage cousin) and so the ending had to resolve both characters’ arcs at the same time. I talked this aspect of the book through in detail with both my agent and editor, and it was so satisfying to work with them to piece together a resolution that really felt true to the story I was trying to tell.

Oh! – and I also wrote a short story called “Kraken” which featured a sea-bathing woman’s encounter with monstrous sea creature. That was a totally cathartic way to exorcise my own phobia about what lurks in the ocean’s deeps! 

So interesting! I can see that quite a lot of thinking goes into the motives and resolutions of your stories. If I told one of your characters (you get to choose which one) that they were imaginary, how would they respond?

Hah hah! Well, my teenage protagonist Jess would probably go off in a huff. She is the cousin of the girl who went missing, and since her beloved cousin has been found and come home Jess is really struggling to make sense of this relationship and what it means for her now. Like most teenagers, she is trying to work out her place in the world, who she really is and what it means to grow up. I think if I told her she was imaginary she’d be furious at me for saying all her angst wasn’t “real”! 

That kind of teenage response would be very interesting to see. Can you think of any books and/or writers who inspired you on your path to be an author? Can you tell us about that?

Oh wow, where do I start? I have been such a voracious reader ever since I can remember (I grew up without a TV), and I think at some level every single book I’ve read has shaped me as an author. For a long time in my life though, I didn’t contemplate being a writer, and in fact I tried all kinds of other creative pursuits instead: pottery, photography, music, drawing – you name it. But with hindsight, it’s obvious that stories and books were going to be my thing because, for me, reading is practically on a par with eating and breathing.

If I had to pick one, I do think Gone Girl  was very influential for me. Up until that point, I was reading a lot of Penguin Classics and literary works(!!) and was just not up to speed with contemporary, commercial fiction. Gone Girl  showed me just how sophisticated and beautifully-written a contemporary page-turner could be. That book got me into psychological thrillers, which were the huge trend at that time. From there, I sensed a gap in the market for a story about an abducted child being found  instead of being ‘gone’. So thanks, Gillian Flynn!

I’ve also been incredibly inspired by writers I’ve met along the way such as Joanna Cannon, Tor Udal, Amanda Berriman and Deborah Install who made it into the publishing world ahead of me. Seeing their hard work, persistence and success made me realise the dream was possible – and really lit the fire under me to follow in their footsteps.

Oh, thank you so much for the names here – these books look fab! And for the reflection that reading is as fundamental as eating and breathing. I like that.

Now take yourself back ten years – what would you like to tell yourself?

Calm down, slow down, keep perspective on what really matters. Writing, editing and getting published all take huge amounts of patience; you can’t rush or force things. Also, with every success that you achieve, a parallel risk of failure will materialise alongside (finished a book, won’t get an agent; got an agent, won’t sell; sold, won’t get good reviews; got good reviews, book two will bomb – and on and on). Focus on the writing and learning your craft, which is all you can really control. And always celebrate each tiny success.

What’s next for you in the world of writing?

Well, I’m super excited (and a little bit terrified) about the release of Little White Lies  which will be published by HQ/HarperCollins in early February 2020. In the meantime, I’m busy writing book two, and I already have an idea percolating for book three. I think having more than one book published would be the next big dream for me – to know this can really be my career and that I’m not just a “flash in the pan”! So I think writing, writing and more writing is the answer. 

I am looking forward to reading it. And finally: Who would you be if you were a fictional character – one of yours, or someone else’s?

Maybe George from The Famous Five? I loved all that kind of adventuring when I was a kid. Personality-wise, I’m probably most like Monica from Friends  (if TV characters are allowed?) – you know, kind of neurotic and obsessional. Maybe you have to be that way to actually write and finish a novel (and then edit it 39 times)!

Indeed, I think you do! Thank you so much fro speaking with me today, Philippa, and all the best with your writing, writing, writing!

You can follow Philippa on twitter  @philippa_east

Stephen Edger unsettles the Last Word

Writer Stephen Edger hails from the north-east of England, but now lives in Southampton. That’s where most of his *quite scary* psychological and crime novels are set. Stephen uses his insider knowledge to deliver realistic and unsettling suspense on every page. I’m particularly chilled by the hook for his latest book Till Death Us Do Part: ‘The wedding vows are exchanged, now the NIGHTMARE begins…’ Yikes.

Welcome to Last Word of the Week, Stephen. It’s great to meet you.

Thanks for having me!

Can you tell us something about yourself that you think anyone who reads your books really ought to know?

I’m not as sick and twisted as the characters in my books. In fact, I’m quite a normal guy. I’m married with two fabulous children and two West Highland Terriers. That said, I’m a huge fan of dark and twisting thrillers, whether books or in film. To date I’ve published 18 books, a mixture of series and standalone stories, psychological suspense and crime thrillers.

Phew, that’s good to know. You look like a normal guy, but so do some of your villains! What is your favourite scene from your own writing? Why?

The opening to my tenth novel Fragments appears to be a romantic scene with a man making his partner a candle-light supper, but by the end of the scene it’s apparent that she is in fact being held against her will. I love how the reader’s lens changes so swiftly, and that it clearly sets up the tone of the story.

Stephen Edger Author

Oooh, scary. That’s going straight to my TBR list. Can you think of any books and/or writers who inspired you on your path to be an author? Can you tell us about that?

I was an avid reader of James Elroy and John Grisham as a teenager, but it was when I first read Relentless by Simon Kernick that I decided I wanted to write something that kept me turning the pages as much as that did. When I did start writing, I contacted Simon through his website and he was kind enough to answer my questions about writing and encouraged me to give it a go. I think had he not responded I never would have completed my first novel.

Since I started writing, I’ve now made so many friends within the writing and blogging community, and all are so supportive of one another.

That’s a great story. It’s wonderful how supportive the writing community can be. I definitely agree – it’s always worth asking. Now, take yourself back ten years – what would you like to tell yourself?

I didn’t know I wanted to write ten years ago (I started my first novel in September 2010), so I would probably tell myself to start. I’m still a youngish man (37), but my biggest regret is not realising I had a talent for writing sooner. I’d also tell myself to read lots and lots of different writers to determine how I wanted to write.

Ahem. Very young indeed! What’s next for you in the world of writing?

The paperback of my latest novel Till Death Do Us Part was published in July 2019. I am currently working on a new psychological thriller for my publishers Harper Collins, which should be released in 2020. I can’t say too much about it yet, but it’s a typically dark and twisting psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the end.

It sounds terrifying! And finally: Who would you be if you were a fictional character – one of yours, or someone else’s?

If I could be any fictional character it would absolutely be James Bond! I’ve loved the films from an early age, and have more recently read the original Fleming novels. I love Bond’s ability to stay calm in the face of such adversity, which is in stark contrast to my own flapping the moment stress rises a fraction above the norm.

Excellent choice! A cool character of elegance, style and action. Perfect choice to face the perils of dark thrillers! Thanks so much for sharing the Last Word with me, James, I mean, Stephen.

Stephen’s Links:

Website: www.stephenedger.com

FB: www.facebook.com/AuthorStephenEdger

Twitter: www.twitter.com/StephenEdger

All Stephen’s novels are available in ebook and paperback formats through Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, etc.