Author Interview: Jane Lovering

Today I'm delighted to welcome Choc Lit author Jane Lovering to the blog to talk about her latest book Falling Apart.

In the mean streets of York, the stakes just got higher - and even pointier.

Jessica Grant liaises with Otherworlders for York Council so she knows that falling in love with a vampire takes a leap of faith. But her lover Sil, the City Vampire in charge of Otherworld York, he wouldn't run out on her, would he? He wouldn't let his demon get the better of him. Or would he?

Sil knows there's a reason for his bad haircut, worse clothes and the trail of bleeding humans in his wake. If only he could remember exactly what he did before someone finds him and shoots him on sight.

With her loyalties already questioned for defending zombies, the Otherworlders no one cares about, Jess must choose which side she's on, either help her lover or turn him in. Human or Other? Whatever she decides, there's a high price to pay - and someone to lose.

Falling Apart is the second book in your Otherworlders trilogy, can you tell us a little bit about it?
Falling Apart follows on almost immediately after the events in Vampire State of Mind. It’s set in the city of York, where vampires and humans, werewolves and zombies all try to get along together. Our heroine, Jessica, has had the misfortune to fall in love with a vampire, Sil, who has disappeared right at the beginning of this book. The story follows Jess as she tries to find out where Sil went, what happened while he was gone, and deals with the fall out when the reason for his disappearance becomes apparent. Along the way she has to contend with some oppressed zombies, family revelations and a lack of suitable footwear.

You’ve written and published books in a couple of different genres, Contemporary and Fantasy, are there any other genres that you would like to try writing? 
I’m starting to think that I might have a go at a historical sometime. But a ‘speculative’  historical, set somewhere like the Bronze Age, where I can make stuff up and nobody can conclusively tell me that I’m wrong. Maybe an archaeological timeslip...is that a genre?

Are you currently working on the final book in the trilogy or something else? 
I’ve put the final book on the back burner for a while, to let it cook. I’ve got some ideas, but I need to let them settle a bit first, otherwise I will do my usual thing of trying to shove all my ideas into the first draft, which then becomes a breathless list of things happening which my beta reader and editor have to tactfully try to get me to sort out. I’ve just finished another contemporary and there’s another one waiting in the wings, so the final vampire book will just have to wait a while.

Do you have a set daily writing routine? 
I try to write every day, when I get home from the day job and before the dogs start looking at me in a funny way, but I don’t always manage it. Sometimes I get sidetracked by Facebook or ambushed by Twitter and sometimes I just fall into a tea shop.

Where do you find your inspiration for stories? 
I walk around thinking ‘wouldn’t it be funny if...?’ Sometimes I even say it aloud, which confuses everyone I work with, especially if it’s something like ‘wouldn’t it be funny if everyone suddenly died and the world was taken over by cats’, when someone usually takes me by the hand and locks me in a cupboard for an hour or two. But in a kind way, obviously. 

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring author, what would it be?
Don’t watch television. At least, don’t watch television and then tell me that you ‘don’t have time to write’ because you won’t get any sympathy from me. Add up all the hours you spend watching Norwegians in jumpers and people shouting at each other and you may well find you could have written two sagas and a screenplay.

When you’ve finished writing a book, do you treat yourself to a reward?
Usually I wait until I’ve actually submitted the book before I reward myself. When I can finally say that it has left the building and is in someone else’s hands, then I might just allow myself the odd sip of something bubbly. Or swigs. Or just the bottle.

Where would be your idyllic location for a writing retreat? 
Anywhere that no-one else could find me, and I didn’t have to cook. A desert island. A desert island with wi fi and a chef, and nothing to distract me except the sound of the sea. And possibly the chef.

If you could invite any three authors, alive or dead, to a dinner party who would you choose and why?
W B Yeats, so we could chat about the paranormal and mythology and all that, Douglas Adams because he is my hero – or rather, he created my all time hero, Zaphod Beeblebrox – and he was the master of procrastination, so I feel he could offer me a few tips. And finally, Bill Bryson, because he is warm and witty and he can stop me from making a fool of myself with the other two.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/janelovering
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1tqEnow
Blog: http://www.janelovering.co.uk
Link to the first book in the series: Vampire State of Mind http://amzn.to/1rkh8Rf