Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia! I still live here, actually I now rent the house I grew up in! I like to keep myself busy, and have plenty on the go! Of course there is always writing (which takes up most of my time!), and there is always time for reading, particularly if lying on one of the many gorgeous, white sandy beaches here in Australia! I also enjoy going to the mountains to ski in the winter as we don’t get snow here in Melbourne, although I would love it if we did. I love to bake, I am working towards my black belt in Taekwondo (only a few months away!), then of course there is work (I currently substitute teach in preschools and schools), and my two Dalmatians, Ivory and Pearl also keep me plenty busy! To date I have written a series of five crime/mystery novels, the Detective Parker Bell series, and have released book one in my new series, Count to Ten series, also crime/mystery. As a preschool teacher it was always a dream of mine to write some picture books for children of this age and have started the Victoria Ivory Pearl series, which currently has two books, which I have written with grade 5/6 kids in local schools.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest book is One and was published in January of this year. The book was based on an idea I had had for a long time but just couldn’t seem to make work. I kept getting put off and would move on to something else, only to find my mind wandering back to it. So I sat down and made myself finish the book, and I am so glad I did! Most of my ideas or inspirations have come from many years spent as a dedicated soap opera fan, and watching every crime show I came across. Over the years ideas have built up in my head from things I’ve watched, or perhaps read, I usually jot down these ideas and then come back to them when I am ready to write a new book.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to have background noise when I’m writing, but I don’t like music, so I will usually sit on my couch, with one of my Dalmatians on each side of me, and my laptop on my lap, and have the TV going in the background. Sometimes I’ll find myself accidentally writing down something the TV just said rather than what I intended to write!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favourite genres to read are crime, mystery and romantic suspense. Some of my favourite authors are Allison Brennan, Mary Burton, Kendra Elliot, Linda Fairstein, Brian Freeman, Richard Montanari, Kathy Reichs, Karen Rose, and Karen Robards. While I love all of these authors I try hard when I’m writing to make my work my own and not be influenced by the writing style of one of my favourite authors too much. As much as I love all these authors as a kid I absolutely adored the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, they totally made me want to go and live in a little log cabin in the woods or on the prairies until I got a little older and actually realised that they had no toilets or showers and had to work so hard to just survive! So I think Laura Ingalls Wilder would have to be my all time favourite author!
What are you working on now?
At the moment I am writing book six in my Count to Ten series. Actually I am almost finished, just working on the final twist, maybe twenty pages or so to go. Then I will be working on planning out book seven, at the moment it is only the most fleeting of ideas jotted down on my Count to Ten series set of notes, so I will soon be working on fleshing out that idea and turning it into a full story.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am very new to working specifically on promoting my books despite the fact that I’ve been publishing for a couple of years, as sometimes life just takes over and your time is diverted elsewhere, so at the moment I am really enjoying Goodreads, as well as reaching out to bloggers and other websites that get readers in contact with good books. Although I am not particularly a Facebook fan, I am getting ready to bite the bullet and sign up to reach a whole new world of readers!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you are sure that you really want to be an author then never stop working towards that goal. There are going to be bumps along the way, don’t try to fight them, work with them and use them to make yourself a better writer.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If something is worth having then it is worth working for!
What are you reading now?
I particularly love reading books that are part of a series as I love to get to know the characters in more detail and see them pop back up again to get an ‘update’ on what has been happening in their lives! I just finished reading Known by Kendra Elliot and enjoyed it very much!
What’s next for you as a writer?
Fortunately I have lots of ideas just waiting to be turned into books, sometimes I have so many that I get so excited by starting them all right away that I have to be strict with myself and just jot down notes on the idea and keep working on whatever book I’m currently writing. So next for me is finishing my Count to Ten series (currently writing book 6), then I have plans for a trilogy, and then a couple of ideas to get to after all of that!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Hmmm . . . what a hard question! I have a bookshelf full of books I’ve re-read many times and know I’ll read again, plus boxes in my attic of books from my childhood that I can’t bear to part with, so narrowing it down to only 3 or 4 is so tough!!
If I had to choose maybe I would say –
Book 1 – Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, as this was one of my favourites as a kid and would bring back memories of curling up in a chair as a child and reading this over and over again
Book 2- The Guinness Book of World Records, I haven’t really read this since I was a kid, but if I’m standard on an island it might provide me with something to do as I worked towards breaking some of the records!
Book 3 – The Bible, it’s the only book I’ve read some of every day of my life since I was about fourteen, and I’m now almost thirty-two
Book 4 – if one of the books could be a notebook I would definitely take that as then I could keep working on my writing, not that I’m a workaholic or anything!
I love all the books from the authors I read so I couldn’t narrow my selection down to any one of them, hence the reason that none of them are on my list!
Author Websites and Profiles
Jane Blythe Website
Jane Blythe Amazon Profile
Jane Blythe’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile