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You are best known for your children’s books but you have been working on your first full length novel for ‘grown-ups’. Tell us a bit about that.
– ‘Kintsugi’ (working title) is a contemporary fiction with an historical twist. The main character has a well ordered, normal life which is turned upside down by family history and skeletons in the closet. Very different to my children’s tales about lambs and starfish!
You have also written a collection of short stories ‘A Slice of Lennon’, How do you find writing in a shorter form?
– I’ve been in a writing group for about four years now. Our monthly challenges are supposed to have a word limit of 500 words, not that we ever stick to that! Our pieces are generally between 1000-2000 words and doing that on a regular basis has really helped to establish my short story writing. I find you can be more inventive. People are more forgiving of flights of fancy in short stories.
Indie Author Week UK is growing in popularity and a busy annual week for you and the team. What inspired the setting up of this event?
– It was set up by Sue Miller who founded Team Author UK which provides Assisted Publishing services to Indie Authors. Sue was looking for festivals/events that her authors could get involved with and because she couldn’t find one, she created Indie Author Week UK which has now been going for 4 years.
When you aren’t busy working you like to escape in your campervan which you call ‘Buttercup’!. What plans have you got for campervan adventures this summer?
– We love our van! We have had a couple of trips to Wales and Shropshire so far and we will definitely be exploring other areas too. We haven’t booked anywhere definite yet but potentially Derbyshire, Yorkshire or back to Wales and Shropshire.
As if writing a novel, giving talks, collaborating with other writers and artists isn’t enough (!) you have also played an active part in the Liverpool Year of Writing. How is that going?
– It’s going really well. The whole city is being encouraged to get involved whether as authors, writers, would be writers or families who want to enjoy experimenting with words. There have been around 300 events so far, several competitions and more to come. It’s a great way to promote the importance of literacy.
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Jude and her campervan ‘Buttercup’!