It’s a
special event here on the Crime Report, because today we have our first
overseas visitor. Please give a hearty
welcome to English author of Dead Jealous,
the incredible Sharon Jones!
Sharon has
kindly agreed to step up and sit in the hot seat, after we bumped into each
other online. We’re still getting to know each other properly, so I’m delighted
that she agreed to drop by and indulge in some (completely imaginary) tea and
scones.
I know that Sharon
has studied politics and theology. I
know she herds poodles. And I know she
has worked in bookshops – which I used to do! – where she discovered her other
true love, YA fiction. Sharon’s first
book, Dead Jealous, came out in July
this year, and it’s a ripper.
In Dead Jealous, sixteen-year-old Poppy
Sinclair is a scientist and a skeptic, so she’s less than thrilled to be
dragged along by her mum to a Neo-Pagan festival in the Lake District. But when a girl is found dead, Poppy has to
fight through a fog of morris dancers and tarot cards to prove what she feels
in her gut to be true – that it was murder, not mysticism. Meanwhile, Poppy’s finding it harder than
ever to push down her feelings for her best friend, who’s dating someone else –
and the hot older guy giving her the eye at the festival could provide just the
distraction she needs…
I read Dead Jealous in one uninterrupted
sitting – well, my family tried to interrupt, but I kept telling them to bugger
off. In other words, I loved it. Now I
have questions, ooh yes, so many questions!
I guess the
first one would be: when can I get more of Poppy and Michael and the whole of
book two, Dead Silent? The teaser chapter
at the end of Dead Jealous left me
very keen for more, and I’m excited to see more YA murder mysteries hitting the
shelves!
Maybe Sharon
can give me some helpful clues…
Hey Sharon, how are things going over
your side of the world? Thanks for agreeing to come visit J
Hi Ellie,
thanks for having me over! It’s certainly warmer here than it is at home!
Now I’m not going to ask how it’s
been, seeing your first book come out on shelves, because I’m pretty sure I
know the answer (crazy, exciting, exhausting!).
What I’d like to ask is – when did you start self-identifying as a
writer?
That would be
the day my first book came out! Although I’d been writing quite seriously for
about 6 years by then, I didn’t dare call myself a writer until the book came
out, not even in my head. Writers were other people. I felt like I was just
playing at it – a kid at the grown-ups table. I knew writing was my passion,
but it felt wrong to call myself ‘a writer’. Still does, really!
I was also wondering if, like me, you
still feel a bit like you’re refining your writing process. Do you feel it’s different now that you know
a bit more about publication, and now you’re writing a series?
Definitely!
I’m more confident in getting things wrong in the first draft. And I don’t
really put meat on the bones of the story until I know the structure is just
about right. I find it so much harder to cut a scene that has descriptions that
I like, or bits of character development I feel strongly about, but if the
scene is really just a sketch of what I think should happen, I’m totally
ruthless! Luckily my editors seem to put
up with me adding in lots of description and character development in the final
draft.
I loved the idea of a Neo-Pagan
festival as the setting for a murder mystery – can you tell us a bit about how
the idea came about?
I’ve always
been fascinated by religion as one of the building blocks of identity – one
that most YA literature completely ignores. Yet when I was a teenager most of
my friends had some kind of brush with one religion or another. For some it was
part of what formed them, others reacted against it, particularly if it was the
religion of their parents. But most people I knew had some kind of spirituality
– even if that was humanism. So I was keen to write a character who genuinely
struggled with spiritual questions.
Back when I
was teaching, I ran a course on the development of neo-pagan religions – so I
came to know quite a lot about the various strains of neo-paganism and it
struck me that a pagan festival would be a really fun place to set a murder
mystery. Remote… full of colourful characters… spooky goings on… And so the
John Barleycorn Festival was born!
Do you have a ‘writing cave’ – a
special place to call your own? What do
you take in with you while you’re working? (I know I’m rather fond of gallons
of strong sweet tea…)
I’ve just
moved so I’m still creating my new cave! The truth is, if I’m into what I’m
writing I can write anywhere. If I’m feeling distracted I need a special place
and routine. Like you, I drink quite a lot of tea! But I will decorate my
writing cave with objects or pictures that I hope will inspire me.
People often ask where your ideas come
from (I always find that a hard question to answer!), but I was wondering what
you feel inspires you and your writing?
My biggest inspiration
is myth and folklore – I love everything from ancient legends to urban legends
– but quite a lot of the time it’s a place that will inspire me. I set Dead Jealous in the Lake District
because I think it’s one of the most mysterious and evocative places I’ve ever
visited. Dead Silent is set in
Cambridge – a town full of ancient institutions and misty, winding alleyways.
If you had to choose a top five, for a
desert island stay, which books would you choose?
Ugh!!! Only
five?? So mean!! OK… umm…
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
One of the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
(which one would depend on what mood I was in…)
The Clocks by Agatha Christie (although Miss
Marple is my favourite detective, I love the plot of this Poirot story!)
The Magus of Hay by Phil Rickman (because I love the
Merrily Watkins series and this one’s due to be published 7th Nov!)
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (because I’m
part way in and I want to finish it! She writes so beautifully...)
And speaking of desert islands, any
plans for a visit to Australia sometime? (We could catch up over a cuppa!) If not…do you have any idea when Dead Silent will be released in
Australia?
My brother
lives in Sydney and I have a whole tribe of relatives around Melbourne so you
never know!
Dead Silent is out 6th February.
Sharon, thanks for answering my kooky
questions, drop by anytime!
Thanks so
much for having me over!!!
If you’d like
to look Sharon up, you can find her online at her website here, or on Twitter @PoodlePowered
- Dead Jealous is available in
bookstores now. I’ll be staking out my local bookstore for my copy of Dead Silent next Feb.
An now, a
couple of updates:
* I’ll be at
Dymocks Camberwell on Thursday night – 21 November – from 6-8pm for their
pre-Christmas author event. Loads of other authors will also be there, and we’ll be signing books and feeling chatty, so if you’re
in the vicinity, feel free to drop by.
* Every Breath has been listed in the NZ Listener amongst their top YA picks for 2013, which
is pretty thrilling! Thank you to Ann Packer for the shout-out :)
I’ve been
rather blown away by all the good press Every Breath has been getting, and I’d
like to say a hearty thank you again to everyone who’s read and enjoyed the
book, and responded so positively. Anna
Ryan-Punch wrote a fantastic review in Viewpoint (books for Young Adults)
through the University of Melbourne, which is available here by subscription. And if you want to go check out Every Breath
on the new Amazon Australia website, it’s up here.
And I was given a chance to recommend one of
my favourite books, Life in Outer Space
by Melissa Keil, over here on the Readings blog. I love that book to the nth degree, and it
was great to be able to give it a good rap.
That’s it for
the news. Meanwhile, life is good,
spring seems to be coming on a little late, and I haven’t had hayfever so bad
this year. I’ve had time to plant
tomatoes, and read, and I went down to Melbourne to see George RR Martin (Game
of Thrones) and Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark) speak at a Wheeler Centre gig,
which was pretty awesome.
I also received
a lovely email from a reader in Germany, who kindly sent me some photos of
Every Breath’s travels abroad: A big
thank you to Carina! (if you can read the sign, you’ll notice the pic is
actually on the border of Germany and the Netherlands – cool!)
Next post, I’ll
be having a giveaway for Christmas, so if you’d like to put your name down for
a copy of the book and some swag, drop on by.
Have a lovely week, and see you soon.
Xx Ellie
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