The
moral of The Starting Out Series – Don’t judge a book by its
cover- I know it’s cliché but…
I
don’t want to write a book that you’ll whizz through and get to
the end of and throw aside and say, well that was good, maybe
amusing, certainly a pleasant way to spend a day or two absorbed in.
Nope, I want you to travel a road through my books on a journey with
my characters that will take you up and down, and make you want to
sigh, wring their necks sometimes maybe, and cry or laugh
occasionally, at the end of the book I want people to set it down and
feel wow that was a hell of a ride, a ride you won’t find it easy
to forget, and the reviews and messages I get from readers often tell
me that my aim works for many people.
So
when you begin one of my New Adult books you’ll probably meet my
characters and make a judgement, then I’ll spend the rest of the
book making you challenge it. In I Found You Rachel is a promiscuous
woman, so some readers might have cause to dislike her initially, but
when you discover she has Bipolar you begin to understand why she is
the way she is, why some days she is down and crying for no apparent
reason and sometimes she’s up and full of fun, and why she makes
some really bad judgements. My favourite review for that book was a
5* from a reader who said they have Bipolar, which was great because
it told me I had Rachel’s character right.
The
particular moral of Rachel’s character, though, is to help people
see that someone with bipolar can lead a relatively normal life, they
aren’t excluded from society, and people around us will suffer with
it and we don’t even know unless we’re close to them.
Excerpt
I didn’t say anything. It would cause more
trouble. I went into the bathroom and stripped off in there. I let
the shower run over my head, and then I cried so my tears merged with
the water. Even if she came in she’d never know. Yes, I did love
her and Saint, but I wasn’t sure loving her was enough forever.
I’d told myself I could live on a fault line,
but how the fuck did I know? I wasn’t coping now. I wasn’t
coping.
We were both quiet when we dressed to go out.
When she went into the bathroom to put her make-up
on I had a look at the packet of meds. None were missing.
Shit.
I wanted her to make the choice. I didn’t want
to police her.
My hands were in the pockets of my leather jacket
when we walked along the hall to the elevators. Rach gripped my arm.
I wasn’t silent to be mean, I just had too much spinning in my
head.
When we got down to Joe’s, Justin and Portia
were there already, sitting at the bar, waiting for us.
“Hey,” I said weakly. I’m sure Rach and I
had carried an atmosphere into the room. If Justin and Portia didn’t
feel it then Joe must’ve. He’d known us last year, when I’d
come down here to eat just to have a few moments of her company, and
to see her smile at me, rather than stay home alone. Those had been
the days when I’d been pretending to myself that I could keep Rach
in the friend zone. I’d been kidding myself on that score, she and
I had had something going from the first moment she’d looked me in
the eyes, her gaze suddenly telling me she’d realized she should be
wondering who I was and if I was safe.
“It didn’t go so well, I take it.” Justin
put a hand on my shoulder briefly, in a gesture saying, hi, and
expressing empathy. Rach was clinging to my other arm.
“Nope.”
Author Bio
Jane
is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional Historical and New
Adult romance and author of a No.1 bestselling Historical Novel,'The
Illicit Love of a Courtesan', as well as a Kindle overall top 25,
bestselling author in the United States of America.
She
began her first historical novel at sixteen, but a life full of
adversity derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of
Ankylosing Spondylitis.
When
she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined not
to reach forty still saying, I want to write.
Now
Jane is writing a Regency series as well as contemporary, new adult,
stories and she is thrilled to be giving her characters life in
others' imaginations at last.
You
might think that Jane was inspired to write by Jane Austen,
especially as she lives near Bath in the United Kingdom, but you
would be wrong. Jane's favourite author is Anya Seton, and the book
which drew her into the bliss of falling into historical imagination
was 'Katherine' a story crafted from reality.
Jane
has drawn on this inspiration to discover other real-life love
stories, reading memoirs and letters to capture elements of the past,
and she uses these to create more realistic plots.
'Basically
I love history and I am sucker for a love story. I love the feeling
of falling in love; it's wonderful being able to do it time and time
again in fiction.'
Jane
is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and
Development in the United Kingdom, and uses this specialist
understanding of people to bring her characters to life.
