interview with Jenny Harper

Of Scottish parentage, Jenny Harper lived in Calcutta until she was six.  She came to Scotland aged 18 to Stirling University and has never moved south again.  As Jenny Carter, she is the author of several non-fiction books about Scotland and aspects of it culture, and the co-author of With Child: Birth Through the Ages.  She is also the author of a children’s novel, The Sleeping Train.  

In addition to her own writing, Jenny has worked as a publishing editor for William Collins, and as a freelance journalist for a range of publications, with a particular interest in feature articles and the applied arts.  She has also edited a magazine about the craft industry.  Jenny has been actively involved with the Romantic Novelists’ Association, where she designed Romance Matters, the organisation’s magazine, for seven years, and was instrumental in redesigning their website, bringing in the RNA's new brand.

In January,
 Jenny published Face the Wind and Fly. More recently the new RNA anthology, Truly, Madly, Deeply, was published, in which she contributed a story. Her latest novel, Loving Susie, has just been published on Amazon.

Jenny lives in Edinburgh.

What does writing mean to you?

I’ve written all my life. When I was just into my teens, my mother paid for one of those correspondence courses that promise you instant stardom. I can’t remember much about it, but I certainly kept on writing.

How did you teach yourself to write?

I’ve always written. When I left my second editing job, I was asked by Collins/Fontana to write a book about Scotland, so I did that. Then I wrote one for Mainstream and a third for Batsford, also about Scotland.  That was when I had a go at a children’s novel – and it was accepted for publication by Hamish Hamilton. I got an agent on the back of that too – but sadly, never made enough money to live off. That’s when I switched to journalism. I had a colleague, Janet Rae, who was a brilliant journalist, and she taught me how to write news and feature articles. I came back to novels after retiring, and went to a couple of writing courses. They were great fun and I met lovely people, many of whom I’m still friendly with. My first agent in this period was a fantastic editor and mentor, and she really pushed me too. ‘Dig deeper, Jenny!’ I can hear her say. But in truth, there’s nothing like practice.

What do you think is the most difficult aspect of the craft to learn?

I’ve run a company and worked with many of Scotland’s major businesses, but I honestly think that writing a novel is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. You have to keep so many balls in the air at once – plot, sub plots, multiple characters, pace, tone, imagery, those little clues you have to lay down and follow through … And all for 100,000 words!

How big a part does romance play in your novels?

I think part of my challenge in landing a ‘Big 5’ deal is that my books are not very genre-specific. Most of my characters have journeys to travel that may include new or old romances, just as most of us have relationships at various stages of discovery or maturity. That’s life, isn’t it? In Face the Wind and Fly, one relationship is in trouble as another is sparking off. In Loving Susie,  the central character is struggling with aspects of her 30-year marriage, while both her children have ups and downs in their relationships. My next novel is about three friends whose lives and relationships come under threat by a blast from the past. I like complexity! Though the challenge is to make it into an easy read.

What is your most enduring memory of your early childhood in India?

Although I was only there till I was six, I do remember a surprising amount. Recently, I returned to Calcutta and found the house where I lived. It was an incredibly nostalgic moment. I remember Chowringhee Road, the Victoria Memorial and the Calcutta Swimming Club, which I also visited. It was all quite emotional.

Has your childhood in India influenced your writing to date?

I’ve become fascinated by it. In fact, it was my parents’ love story and marriage that sparked off my interest in novels again, but my first effort wasn’t nearly accomplished enough and I’ve abandoned it. I’d love to go back to it though!

You were runner-up in the BBC Woman's Hour/Woman's Weekly 'Romantic Novelist of the Year' competition in 1983, and in 2006, you won the Elizabeth Goudge Award of the Romantic Novelists' Association.   How did such successes affect you?

I can’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the successes! I rather squandered the BBC/WW award though – I had a chance to write a full-length book for them, but I didn’t really have time. The RNA has been a terrific support. I’m not hard-core romance, but neither are lots of members, and they are SO encouraging and supportive.

You enjoy playing bridge.  Are there any shared skills in this card game and writing?

Hmm. I’ve never even pondered that one! Bridge is very complex – bottomless – but it’s also very social, and I enjoy that aspect enormously. Maeve Binchy was a great bridge fan and had lots of her characters play bridge. I’d love to set a book around it, because it can really bring out the worst in people! But I think it’s too esoteric. Most people wouldn’t ‘get’ it. In answer to your question, I do think I play bridge and write novels in much the same way – by the seat of my pants!

What did you enjoy most about your editing work at William Collins?

I learnt everything there. I’m an experienced editor, and that’s the bit I look forward to when writing novels – polishing that difficult first draft gives me so much enjoyment . I also learnt a great deal about book and magazine design at Collins, a skill I was able to utilise in the business I ran. I’m very proud of the many design awards I’ve won over the years.

You’ve just self-published your second novel on Amazon.  What are the most challenging technical aspects of this?

My biggest challenge has come from being a Mac user. Half the instructions for formatting simply don’t work on Microsoft Office for Mac and I’ve had to be very persistent. It’s crazy – so many creative people use Macs, you’d think Amazon would cater for them. Even the IRS questionnaire was almost impossible – half the dialogue boxes were off the side of the screen so I couldn’t tick them. Grrr! But I’m extremely obstinate and I was determined not to give up.

Would you encourage other writers to self-publish?

Definitely. I’ve got a real kick out of finally getting my work to market. But I would say this: it’s really worth paying for professional editing, professional proof reading and professional cover design. Don’t publish something you’ll be embarrassed by in a year or two.

Along with four other writers, you created the blog, Novel Points of View.  What prompted this and how does it work?

The need to get started in the blogosphere. And blogging once every five weeks is much easier than every week! Besides, it adds lots of variety to the posts. We have a rota, though we can jump in if something exciting happens.

You’ve said that you’d like to have another go at writing a novel set in India during the war and around the time of Independence.  How do you think the intervening years might have affected your approach to writing such a novel?

As I mentioned earlier, my first effort was woefully inadequate. My main problem was, I wanted to show how difficult it was for couples who were separated during the war. My mother had to wait eight years before she could get out to India to get married! But having your hero and heroine apart isn’t a great device for creating dramatic tension.  I would need to rethink the structure quite seriously. I’d plot much more tightly, and I’d dig much deeper into my characters too.

How can readers connect with you?

There’s a contact form on my website, http://www.jennyharperauthor.co.uk/ and they can find my books on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1gueVZu (I think the section of Truly, Madly, Deeply in which my story appears is on that page too), and http://amzn.to/1gtESsk