I’d like to welcome Sara Jayne Townsend, author of the
Shara Summers mystery series, to my blog today.
SJT: I spent the first ten years
of my life in the North of England, and then we moved to Ontario, Canada. I
moved back to England when I was eighteen, and have been living in the London
area ever since. I used my own background as inspiration for my amateur sleuth,
Shara Summers, who has one British parent and one Canadian parent, and has
lived in both countries.
RW: How many hours a day do
you spend writing?
SJT: I have to write around
the day job so it can be difficult. I’m too tired to get much writing done when
I get home from work, so I get up early—as in, 5:30 am, and get the early train into London so I can write
before work. I spend an hour or so in a coffee shop writing, at least twice a
week, before going to the day job. I think having a limited amount of time
focuses me, though, because I can get quite a lot done in that hour.
RW: Why did you decide to
write? When did you submit your first manuscript and what genre was it?
SJT: I always say I didn’t “decide”
to write; it short of chose me. I was telling stories from being a very young
child—all of my dolls and toys had names, and family histories, and
personalities, and I used to make up stories about them to send myself to
sleep. From the moment I knew how to write, I was writing the stories down. I
decided when I was ten that I was going to be a published novelist. I wrote my first
novel at age eleven, but it really wasn’t very good. The first novel I submitted
to publishers was a horror novel called ‘Terror in Tanner’s Field.’ I started
it when I was fourteen, and started submitting it when I was seventeen. It
piled up a few rejections, but since I made a point of mentioning my age, the
rejections were quite encouraging. All along the lines of, “We love to hear
from young people who like to write, and we hope you keep at it. Perhaps try
again in ten years or so.”
RW: Who are your favorite
authors? Who influenced your writing?
SJT: As a teenager, when I
started writing horror, I was hugely inspired by Stephen King. I still have a
lot of admiration for him. I love the way he writes about ordinary, flawed
characters and puts them in extraordinary situations. They always come across
as being entirely believable even when the situation is not.
My favourite crime writer is Sara
Paretsky. One of my first full time jobs was working in a book store in Central
London. I was about nineteen at the time. Sara Paretsky came to do a signing. I’d
not read her books before, but I was impressed by her, so I bought a copy of
the book the store was promoting and she signed it for me. I was so enthralled
by the book and her character, VI Warshawski, I read all the others in the
series, and she inspired me to start writing a crime series.
RW: How do you celebrate
the mile-markers of publishing?
Signing
the contract!
Finishing
Edits
Going
over the ARC or galleys
Release
Day!
SJT: Before I was published,
I always imagined that getting the contract was the end of the story, and then
I found out that it was just the beginning, and there are so many occasions
that could be interpreted as “the end,” it’s hard to pinpoint when it’s appropriate
to celebrate! So you have to have little rituals to suit yourself.
When I finish what I have decided
is the final draft of a manuscript I open a nice bottle of wine. I know it can
be argued that it’s not finished, because there’s the editing process to go
through, but the moment I have decided the manuscript is ready to submit is the
moment I celebrate its completion.
Funny thing about signing
contracts. For the first two, I did find that a big reason to celebrate. Now it
doesn’t seem quite as big a deal but maybe that’s because I’ve now done it a
few times. So saying, when I signed the contract with Muse for the third Shara
Summers book, Hubby and I did break out a bottle of wine with dinner that
evening, and we toasted Shara.
Release day always seems a reason
to celebrate, even if it’s only an e-book. I had an online Facebook launch for
the first two Shara Summers books, and that was quite good fun, and it meant I
got to interact with readers without leaving the comfort of my home. There was
virtual champagne being splashed around the internet. I also opened up a real
bottle of champagne with Hubby.
RW: How much of your personality and life
experiences are in your writing?
SJT: There’s quite a lot of me in Shara, and I’ve
already mentioned the transatlantic experiences we share. People always say
write what you know—I do think it’s easier to write with more feeling if you’re
writing about things you’ve experienced yourself. When I’m writing about things
I haven’t experienced, it means I have to try and put myself there emotionally.
That can sometimes take me to a place that is quite uncomfortable to go to.
A lot of the childhood anecdotes
that Shara comes out with are based on either my experiences or those of family
members. I have to say, though, that Shara’s family are all entirely fictional,
and not based at all on any of my family!
RW: Tell us about your latest book. What motivated
the story? Where did the idea come from? What genre is it? Does it cross over
to other genres? If so, what are they?
SJT: The latest Shara Summers book, Spotlight on Death, which will be
released toward the end of this year, takes my actress amateur sleuth to a
remote manor house off the coast of Scotland as part of a reality show. It’s an
homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then
There Were None, which I think is one of the best crime books ever written.
It’s also inspired by an exercise
my writing group did years ago. We had a point when we were writing novels in a
‘round robin’ way, where everyone would write a chapter and then pass it on to
the next person. There was a point we had three on the go at once. I started
one of them, and again it was inspired by And
Then There Were None, with ten people arriving at a remote mansion. And
then of course the others involved took it off on a completely different track,
and the final version turned out to be very different from what I’d originally
envisaged. However, I have “borrowed” some of those characters for Spotlight on Death, though my novel
remains firmly in the mystery genre. The story the writing group came up with
was rather more weird.
RW: After you’ve written your book and it’s been
published, do you ever buy it and/or read it?
SJT: Usually by the time a book’s published, it’s
been through a lot of edits, and I’ve had to read it so many times I am sick to
death of my own book. I am also afraid of finding errors because after
publication, it’s too late. So, although I keep copies of all my books to hand,
to show off, I generally don’t read them through after publication.
RW: If I were a first-time reader of your books,
which one would you recommend I start with and why?
SJT: If you’re into crime then I would recommend you
start with Death Scene because that’s
the first one in the Shara Summers series. Although I think you can approach
the other books without necessarily having read the first one, there’s a lot of
backstory in the first one that helps to shape Shara’s character.
RW: What is the hardest part of writing for you?
SJT: The hardest part is always starting the first
draft, when you’re staring at a blank screen (or a blank page). The first draft
is when I’m still getting to know the characters, and quite often I struggle
with it. By the time I get to the second draft, I generally know them well
enough to know how they will react in a certain situation. It’s always easier
to edit than it is to create. Once the foundations are laid, it’s a lot easier
to build the rest.
RW: Have you experienced writer’s block? If so, how
did you work through it?
SJT: When I first started writing novels, in my
teens and early twenties, I was pretty much a ‘pantser’ and would just start
with an idea. I would usually have a vague idea of where I wanted to go, but I
had no idea how I wanted to get there.
During that period I wrote quite a
lot of novels that never got finished, because I would get stuck half way and
not know how to finish. My first published horror novel, Suffer the Children, was a victim of this process. This was a book
I really wanted to finish, so after it had been stuck in a drawer for a few
years, I dug it out and re-read it. I wrote out a plot summary for how far I’d
got, and then decided how it was going to end. From there I broke the book down
in a chapter-by-chapter summary, and that allowed me to finish the novel.
Ever since then I’ve been a
plotter, and that has allowed me, on the whole, to overcome writer’s block. By
the time I sit down to write the first draft, I know where the story is going.
Sometimes it will vary a bit as I’m writing it, and the characters take
unexpected turns, but as long as I know they are all going to end up in the
right place I’m good with that.
RW: Those are all the questions I have for
you. Thank you for speaking to me.
SJT: Thank you for having me!
DEATH SCENE
(Shara Summers Mysteries Book One)
The
Plot
British-born, Toronto-based, actress Shara Summers turns
amateur sleuth when her sister is stricken with a mysterious illness. Summoned
back to England to be with her family during a time of crisis, Shara discovers
doctors are at a loss as to what’s causing Astrid’s debilitating sickness.
After her aunt is found dead at the bottom of the stairs
the death is deemed an accident. Shara suspects otherwise. Her investigation
unearths shocking family secrets and a chilling realization that could have
far-reaching and tragic consequences that affect not only her own future, but
Astrid’s as well.
An
Excerpt:
Ruth
sat in her rocking chair watching the television–which was probably about ten
years old, and appeared to be the most modern thing in the room. She was
wearing a blue floral dress, with a patchwork blanket over her knees. I had
seen that dress before. Her hairstyle hadn’t changed, either–her white hair was
thinning, and she wore it short and curly, in the style of old ladies
everywhere. When we came in she looked up, a toothless smile breaking out over
her face. She had dentures that she never wore–something else she only saved
for special occasions. As a child, Ruth had appeared very scary to me on the
occasions she wore her dentures because we just weren’t used to seeing her with
them.
My
mother went up to Ruth and leaned in to give her a kiss on her soft wrinkled
cheek. “How are you, Auntie Ruth?” she said loudly. Ruth’s hearing had been
going even back then. She must be virtually deaf by now.
The
house was freezing. The only source of heat was a three-bar electric fire on
the floor by Ruth’s feet.
“I’m
doing all right, dear,” Ruth said. Her voice was husky, ravaged by age and lack
of use. “Mustn’t complain.”
Summer,
still in my mother’s arms, began to cry and squirm, no doubt intimidated by the
presence of this ancient lady. “Who’s this?” Ruth said, stroking one of Summer’s
chubby legs.
“This
is Summer,” Mum said. “This is my granddaughter. You’ve met Summer. Astrid’s
daughter.”
Ruth
frowned. “Astrid? Your little one?”
“Not
a little girl any more, Auntie Ruth. She’s all grown up now.” Mum pointed in my
direction. “This is my other daughter, Shara. Do you remember? Shara lives in
Canada.”
Ruth
was staring at me, frowning. There was no indication that she recognised me. “It’s
been a long time,” she said eventually.
“Hello
Auntie Ruth,” I said.
“Have
you taken your pills, Auntie Ruth?” my mother asked.
Ruth
frowned in concentration. “Pills? Think so. Can’t remember, you know. My memory’s
not what it was.”
My
mother thrust the crying child into my arms. “Watch Summer for a moment, Shara.
I’m going to make Auntie Ruth some lunch.” And off she went into the kitchen.
I
sat down in the faded armchair and bounced Summer on my knee. She kept crying. Ruth
stared fixedly at the television. There seemed to be an Australian soap opera
on. I couldn’t tell which one. I wasn’t a fan, and they all looked the same to
me. “So what are you watching, Auntie Ruth?”
“Eh?”
She swivelled round to stare at me.
I
raised my voice. “The television. What are you watching?”
“Oh,
I don’t know, dear. I watch everything. Keeps me company, you know.” And she
lapsed back into silence, staring at the television. A couple of minutes went
by and then she said suddenly, “they’re stealing from me, you know.”
“Who?”
“They’re stealing from me.” Ruth continued to stare at the
television. I wasn’t at all sure she was even aware of anyone else in the room.
I stood up with Summer in my arms and hurriedly went to find my mother in the
kitchen.
[Ed. Note: I reviewed Death Scene when it first came out, and it was great! Here's the link to my review at Roses & Thorns: http://rosesndthorns.blogspot.com/2015/07/death-scene-by-sara-jayne-townsend.html.]
[Ed. Note: I reviewed Death Scene when it first came out, and it was great! Here's the link to my review at Roses & Thorns: http://rosesndthorns.blogspot.com/2015/07/death-scene-by-sara-jayne-townsend.html.]
SARA
JAYNE TOWNSEND
Bio
Sara Jayne Townsend is a UK-based writer of crime and
horror, and someone tends to die a horrible death in all of her stories. She
was born in Cheshire in 1969, but spent most of the 1980s living in Canada
after her family emigrated there. She now lives in Surrey with two cats and her
guitarist husband, Chris.
She decided
she was going to be a published novelist when she was ten years old and finished
her first novel a year later. It took thirty years of submitting, however, to
fulfil that dream.
The third
book in her series about actress and amateur sleuth Shara Summers will be
released by MuseItUp Publishing in late 2017.
Book Links:
Amazon:
BN:
Death Scene:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-scene-sara-jayne-townsend/1120378095?ean=2940046305203
Dead Cool:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dead-cool-sara-jayne-townsend/1120378703?ean=2940046239669
Contact Sara Jayne
Townsend At:
Amazon Author Pages:
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