Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take you to write the Jane Blonde books and get them published?

It takes me about six months for them to sit inside my head, growing and taking shape, then I spend some time planning them out. The actual writing doesn’t take very long by that stage as I know what I’m going to be writing, more or less, so it can be just a few weeks to get it all down, but the whole process takes much, much longer. Months of having to go to cafes drinking coffee and walking the dog to get inspired. What happens then is it goes off to my wonderful editor, Rachel, and she makes some suggestions. Once I’ve worked on those it goes back to Talya who makes more suggestions (like ‘did you realise you’ve called that gadget a Red Spy thing in one book and now you’ve changed it to a Blue Spy thing’). Then it goes off to get put into a book format, and we ALL make suggestions on that one, and then finally it goes into print. So well over a year before you see it in the shops.

What influenced you?

I've always wanted to write - I wrote masses as a kid, always scribbling something or other. And I read masses too - C.S. Lewis and classics like "What Katy Did", and my biggest favourite, "Harriet the Spy" by Louise Fitzhugh.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I am an avid collector of useless and unconnected information. Sometimes it’s something I’ve read in the newspaper (over someone’s shoulder as I don’t read the paper much); a snippet I’ve overheard from a conversation; whatever I’m watching on TV. I get a lot of info that makes me go “hmmmm, I wonder …” from Jonathan Cainer’s horoscope website. You can see what a fascinating life I have (and how nosy I am). Then that little nut of something-or-other sits in my head for a while and then eventually becomes a storyline.

How long does it take you to write a book?

6 – 9 months. I compare it to having a baby. There’s a little idea growing inside my head for a few months. Then about six months in, which is about the time you start painting the nursery and buying in baby-gros, I go into the planning stage. By the time I come to write the book it’s pretty well formed, and then I have a short, sharp burst of manic typing (labour) and my book is born. Then it goes off to the nannies (editors), who teach it to behave and make it look pretty. 

How did you come up with your characters?

Characters are either made or born, I feel. Some characters, like Janey/Jane, are worked out in careful detail. For Janey, I came up with the name of Jane Blonde first, and knew she would have to be a spy because of the similarity to a certain very famous spy. Then I worked backwards to her everyday name, and her everyday personality. Other characters just tend to walk into my head fully-formed, and they more or less write themselves. G-Mamma did that, bossy woman. And certain characters in Doghead, and my adult books too.

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