The Soft Side of Jen Black

August 23, 2007 | Interviews

ST: Hi Jen. Thanks for coming back today. Will you please describe your writing space.
JB: Study cum bedroom. Smallish, one wall fitted with shelves and cupboards. Laptop takes pride of place, books to either side, files (neatly) filed. Magnolia walls bearing pictures and maps, green carpet, floral curtains. Single bed so I can lie down and read if I want. It’s a sunny room, facing south, and it’s all mine. Husband has his own across the landing, so we can shout to each other if we wish!

ST: Let’s show everyone two views of where you work.

ST: What’s your favorite part of writing?
JB: All of it when it’s going well. None of it when it’s going badly.

ST: LOL! What do you absolutely hate about being an author?
JB: Trying to decide which agent or publisher to submit to. There are so many! And all so likely to say No.

ST: In your opinion what’s the most important thing for a new writer to learn?
JB: Grammar. Nothing puts me off reading sooner than poor grammar and glaring errors in historical detail. Remember Kevin Cosner in the film Prince of Thieves? He lands at Dover and the same night he’s rescuing a child from a tree on the Roman Wall just north of here. That’s all of 350 miles in a day, on horseback. The cinema rocked with laughter, and that kind of error in a book is what grates on me. Perhaps that’s where the old adage “Write what you know” comes in.

ST: Your website is gorgeous. I recommend everyone cruise over to http://members.lycos.co.uk/jenblack or click here and check it out. How did you decide on the content and design?
JB: It’s the best I could do! Lycos is free and it accepts Frontpage, so this is my first set of pages with them. I’m not the most techno-minded person in the world, so I’ll learn as I go along. In a couple of months I’ll revamp it, but at the moment it’s enough to keep it up to date. When I’m famous I’ll pay someone to do it all for me!

ST: Thanks for another good day, Jen.
JB: Any time, Sloane. I’ll see you in the morning!

ST: Until then…

Happy Writing!
Sloane