To conclude our ‘Author of the Month’ feature, we’ve asked Jan a few questions about his work and life as a writer
Hi Jan, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for us today. The first thing we’d like to know is when you started writing and why: did you get inspiration from a famous writer, or did you just put pen to paper and start?
I’d taken a career break to raise my family, and when the moment came for me to return to work, my husband asked me, what did I actually miss about my job? I said, I liked the writing, and er… helping people. It was going to be very hard for me to return to my old job and look after the children as we have no local family and childcare is expensive, so he suggested I just write, and see what happened while I thought about it. I was also volunteering in our local school reading with children so the first book I wrote was a children’s book about trying out new activities. While that was being illustrated, I started to write what I love to read, which is historical fantasy, and that was my first book, Disrupting Destiny.
Fantasy is one of the Top 3 best-selling fiction genres. However, it seems to us you opted for ‘the road less travelled’ and put an historical spin to a very popular genre. Can you tell us a bit more about the reasons for your choice?
I genuinely didn’t know historical fantasy was a genre, but my sister lent me A Discovery of Witches, which is more magical realism (like Harry Potter is, with magical beings hidden among humans) and I adored it! I started to read more and more books like that, where fantasy is blended with the real, but my favourites were by far when they were set in a specific point in history. It got me thinking about history, and how we view the past based on what we are experiencing in the present. At the time, Britain was going through Brexit, which was a very divisive topic, a bit like Henry VIII’s Reformation when he broke from Rome and the Church of England was created.
I wanted to write about what that might have been like for the common man, as our nation was going through something akin to it, and I wanted to explore what it would be like to have to stay hidden because you were magical… or different in some other way.
For all of my books, I look first at the history, because it’s always been a passion of mine and I love to research. The Tudors are my favourite, so that’s where I started researching. I asked myself, what would this event look like if you were an immortal, who had lived through difficult times before? How would you view what was going on – would there be a sense of inevitability because, in many ways, history does repeat itself, or would you be tempted to intervene and prevent the same happening again? Sometimes, the research and subsequent plotting isn’t comfortable – like when I was writing my prequel, Destiny Awaiting, which is set in Henry V’s campaign which ended at Agincourt, and Putin had just invaded the Ukraine. I couldn’t help but draw the parallels between the two leaders.
For those who don’t know it (yet), would you be able to summarise the essence of your ‘Naturae’ Series in three sentences?
Historical events are threaded together with strands of magic to create a tapestry rich with detail and thrills in the Naturae Series. Hidden from human’s view are immortal fae, an ancient race who have survived by not getting involved in our affairs, but when the threat to their existence causes a fae girl to expose herself to a human, everything changes. Faced with vampires, helped by witches, and frustrated by daemons, she and her partner battle to rebuild faith, faeth and the future.
What message would you like readers to draw from your books?
I suppose that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope. My characters suffer, partly as a result of the changing times and partly because it’s never easy to achieve goals. They wrestle with big problems, and there are dark and very human themes discussed in the books, yet they survive and live to fight another day. In writing the Naturae series, I primarily wanted to offer my readers an escape, into a vivid past, where in some ways life was simpler, but the challenges humanity faces (love, loss, faith, keeping the peace, survival etc) are familiar. I love reading as an escape into someone else’s world, and that’s what I want to provide for my readers.
Have you ever attempted to be published the ‘traditional’ way (or would you ever consider it in the future)? What are your thoughts on the publishing industry in general if you don’t mind us asking?
With my business consultant hat on (my other job which I do on the side), if you are starting any business, it’s important to define what success looks like to you, which will inform the strategy you employ to get there. When I started looking at how to get my stories in front of people, I realised very quickly that traditional publishing takes a lot of time, probably a fair amount of rejection and the author is, in a sense, not in control once the book is accepted. For me, I just wanted to hold my books in my hands and feel I have achieved something, and I wanted to manage as much of making that happen as possible. So, the choice was quite simple for me – waste a lot of time and feel rejected trying to get an agent then hope they get a book deal, or, crack on with it and achieve my goals myself. I learned a lot from doing it, and decided to keep doing it my way. I love it and although I would adore to have the opportunities which traditional publishing can offer, my goals are more modest – to enjoy what I do and provide an escape for my readers.
Indie publishing isn’t for everyone though. It takes a huge amount of effort to do the background work, which I hadn’t anticipated the scale of when I started. You think, oh – I can publish a book (which is hard enough just to finish and have a viable ‘product’!) and everyone will just want to read it, right? But the reality is you spend a lot of time telling people you have published a book, trying to market it, searching out those readers who might like it, and often, that can feel as fruitless as trying to land an agent and get a publishing deal.
What I write, specifically the genre, is a tricky ‘sell’ – it would be just as tricky if I had gone the traditional route, as very few historical fantasy books are published! Especially as I don’t really ‘write to market,’ but instead I tend to write about what I enjoy reading. Often, I look for what tropes I have used after I have finished, as that can be a useful way to market the book, for example, enemies to lovers in my romance book, Destiny Awaiting. I probably should start with them, I know, but, *shrugs* I am led by history and my heart, I suppose, not marketing angles and sometimes predictable endings.
What is amazing about being an indie author/publisher is the community though. I proudly run my own business and that’s not been without a lot of learning (yay! I love learning!) and help from others who are successful in the industry. As a group of like-minded people, I have never worked in an industry so willing to lift each other up and that’s so refreshing. There is no competition with each other, which is odd to wrap your head around, but it’s true and unlike any other business. We share an audience (or client base, if you want to be business-y) but you almost never hear of a reader who exclusively reads one author, do you?
As a writer, we assume you are also a great reader. What are your favourite genres/books? What are you currently reading?
I adore having time to read! It’s my weekend treat to just curl up with a book and a brew and escape. I’m currently reading an ARC (advance reader copy) of The Thief’s Keeper, a low magic historical fantasy set just after the Norman invasion of England by Kyrie Wang. After that, I have a historical thriller set in post revolution Paris to look forward to. I do tend to read historical fiction or historical fantasy as a preference, but I also absolutely adore thrillers of any kind – legal, like John Grisham or contemporary (with a historical twist) like Scott Mariani.
On a parting note… Any advice you’d like to give to authors who are only starting out in their self-publishing journey?
Firstly and foremost, believe it can be done. Seek out people who are successful and learn from them, but don’t assume that their strategies will work for you. Everyone’s journey is different and that’s hard to remember when it gets tough. Although it’s tempting to draw comparisons with other authors, they are NOT your competition! Some people bash out 5000 words a day, a book a month, and seem to be making millions, but others ‘achieve’ far less but get all the accolades. The person setting the bar is YOU, and it’s perfectly ok to say, I set the bar too high and I got burned out. Be S.M.A.R.T in your goals, and learn as much as you can before you commit any money to something. Facebook groups like 20Booksto50K are a fantastic resource as well as a supportive community.
Remember, as soon as you put pen to paper, or fingers to keys, you ARE a writer and no-one can take that away from you. What you choose to do with your words is in your hands.
