Ask an author which of their own books is their favourite and I suspect it’s like asking a parent to say which child they love best; it can’t be done. Turning the Tide will always be dear to me because it was my first full-length novel and it earned me a publishing contract. I’m proud of Move Over Darling because I wrote it during a very tough period with Stuff Happening externally and a crippling lack of self-confidence internally. Getting through that long dark night of the writing soul taught me a lot. Oh, but I did love writing Book 3!
I loved returning to Little Spitmarsh, the setting for Turning the Tide, I loved seeing what Harry and Matthew had been up to and I loved my new heroine and hero. And fortunately, phew, everyone at Choc Lit loved them too and I was offered a new contract faster than I dared hope. One thing they didn’t love, though, was the title, so my working title went out the window and a new one was born, Follow a Star.
Then I waited for my cover. Now, cover design is an art I can only admire as it’s something I can’t pretend to understand. We all know a bad cover when we see one, but a good one? I had a choice of four designs to choose from and could have lived with any of them, but v.1 was deemed the favourite. And with a couple of tweaks and some sparkle, there was my girl, May, contemplating her future, just as I imagined her. Amazing!
Follow a Star is part of Choc Lit’s 2014 selection so won’t be out until early next summer, but Move Over Darling is currently on promotion in the Amazon Kindle summer sale at 99p and $1.51
Comments
Do you have a favourite novel, Jane, from your growing body of work? I loved VSoM (well, I loved them all of course, but especially that one!) so am really looking forwards to 'Falling Apart'.
Thanks, Linda, and how kind of you to read both. Here's to our 2014 babies!
Now...let me click over to email a message to you and Tom.
xo
Sue, we're taking Ma up to the East Anglian coast this summer so I'm looking forwards to revisiting one of the places that inspired Little Spitmarsh.
Chanpreet, I'm so pleased! As you can tell, I really enjoyed this one. Thank you!