The Writing Journey with Jane Johnson

Jane Johnson is a British author who writes historical fiction set mainly in Cornwall and Morocco. “Morocco?” you say. “How intriguing.” And yes, her story is intriguing and her novels are wonderful – I was hooked when I read The Tenth Gift which featured handsome pirates, beautiful slave girls, and an exotic world and is based on the real-life raids on the Cornish coast by 17th century Barbary corsairs.

Here’s Jane to talk about her writing journey.

MKT: How do your more recent novels differ from earlier novels, particularly the first few novels you wrote?

Jane Johnson: I think my more recent novels have been a little more subtle than the earlier ones, but although my techniques may have improved, I think the storytelling drive and the themes that inspire me are still the same. 

One thing that has changed, that enabled me to write The Black Crescent, which I would never have been able to do 20 years ago, has been my understanding and knowledge of my adopted country of Morocco. It’s set in 1955, which is within living memory for a lot of people, and it required very sensitive handling because of that. Add to that, it is a very political novel, about the Moroccan fight for independence against the French, and the modern echoes of that theme, and it means that I have had to be a much more grown-up and nuanced writer in order to tackle the subject and do it full justice.

But the same passions still drive me – second chances, love in later life, the friction and integration between two of the world’s great religions, Christianity and Islam, our common understanding and values, which should bring us closer than drive us apart.

MKT: How has your writing process evolved since your first years as an author?

Jane: I have always been a gardener rather than an architect when it comes to writing. If I can synopsise and fully plan out a story, then I don’t want to write it, because I’m already bored by it. So I always start with a premise, often a question, or a sense of injustice, that I want to pursue, and I always know the ending, and salient points leading up to the denouement, but how I get there is always a mystery to me. I know a novel is working when it takes me by surprise.

If it’s a historical novel, I will always do my research before I start to write, so that it can bed down and act as a sort of compost for the story, if you like. I don’t want my research to be obvious to the reader when they’re reading, or to get in the way of the story. So that can take a full year before I even put pen to paper. And I do put pen to paper, because I write my first draft long hand, and usually outside, away from distractions. I write usually on my allotment, a little bit of market garden that I rent, with the see below, and I find that incredibly relaxing. If I get stuck on a sentence or an idea, I can get up and do a bit of weeding while digging, and I come back with my head cleared. Then I will type a chapter up and polish and hone it, and that becomes the second draft.

Has your readership changed over time? Do you have any insights on why your readership has or has not changed?

I think my readership has grown with me, although I like to find that I am bringing new readers in all the time younger readers, but the voice hasn’t changed, the concerns and the storytelling haven’t changed over that time, and I don’t write to a market, I write the sort of stories that I like to read, stories that involve a bit of jeopardy, adventure, history, probably a few deaths(!), and some love. I am notorious for not being easily categorisable, and each novel being different. This often gives publishers  difficulty when it comes to covers, because they want to sell me as women’s fiction or historical fiction but a lot of the time the contents are a bit deeper and darker than for those markets, and that can lead to some unusual covers for the content! I will never forget the Canadian cover for Pillars of Light, which showed a woman in a floaty dress, this being a novel – a quite bloody novel – about the crusades, and about cathedral building!

How have changes in the publishing landscape affected your writing or your success? 

I think in some ways the digital market has helped all of us to reach more readers. When I started writing, it was impossible to reach a wide audience unless you were selected for supermarkets. That is no longer the case, although now the digital marketplace is extremely crowded. Social media has helped us connect directly with our readership, and I love to do that. 

Has there been a fork in the road that changed your writing? Some event, person, book or whatever that has changed what you write?

Well, the obvious change was going to Morocco 20 years ago to research The Tenth Gift, and meeting and marrying Abdel, so obviously that changed my entire life and my interest in the themes I wanted to explore, and without that I’m not sure what sort of writer I would have been. It has definitely made me a more interesting writer and given me this immense and rich subject matter to explore, introduced me to a far wider cast of characters than I would otherwise have had access to, and so much fascinating history. And I had a lot of adventures that made their way into the books!

Have you tried a different genre? If so, which genre and to what effect?

So far I have written children’s books, fantasy, epic fantasy, historical fiction, dual narrative and timeslip novels, comedy, social satire, political thrillers, mysteries, and most often a mashup of every single one of these in every book I write.

Have you tried different eras? If so, to what effect?

Again, I skip around in my settings according to what interests me. I have written novels set in the 12th century, the 17th century, the 18th century, the 20th century, and right up-to-date contemporary novels.

What kind of historical fiction appeals to you as a reader?

When I’m reading historical fiction, I want to be swept away by the story, but I also want it to be as accurate to known historical sources as it possibly can be without becoming turgid. I like to learn when I read, and I don’t want to be misled too much. I do believe that if writers take a detour from the history, they own up to it in an author’s note at the end of the novel. I don’t want my fiction to be too sanitised or sweet: there has to be darkness in order to appreciate the light, I want all the depths of human emotion that come that we experience to go into the story. I don’t shy away from writing grim scenes, but I never include violence for the sake of glorification. I like to include a nugget of unknown history, like a little secret that people have not explored, in each of my novels. So I research and research until I find those little nuggets of gold to slip between the pages.

If there is something else you can share about your writing journey, please do so!

I think the most useful thing I can share about being a writer, for all other writers, and aspiring writers, and readers to understand what writers go through, is that it’s always a bumpy ride, it’s never a smooth trajectory to success, and you can have success with one book, and then drop down into obscurity for the next one. You can be dropped by your publisher, you can like I have, lose your beloved editor, and be left orphaned, and that’s really tough. As a writer you have no control over any of these things, or the market, and so all you have control over is what you write and how you think about yourself as a writer, and actually you just need to keep going!

Many thanks, Jane. Yours is an amazing and inspiring story. I’m sure readers will be fascinated that you’ve explored so many time periods and genres and also fascinated to learn how one trip to Morocco changed your life.

Not to be confined to one genre, Jane has written a number of books under the pseudonym Jude Fisher: the official guides to Peter L. Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, and Fool’s Gold fantasy trilogy. She has also co-authored several novels with M. John Harrison using the author name Gabriel King, and has written five books for children! Beyond all that, Jane has worked in the book industry for 30 years as a bookseller, publisher and writer.

For more on Jane Johnson, read her interview from 2013 or a discussion I had with her about her novel The Sea Gate in 2021.

Secrets of the Bees by Jane Johnson

Time has forgotten this remote corner of West Cornwall, and left its many secrets undisturbed. Until now… 

Ezra Curnow has lived in the little cottage on the Trengrose estate all his life. He was born there, as was his father, and his grandfather before that. It is his own little paradise. 

Then the mistress of the estate, Eliza Rosevear, dies without leaving a will, and the cottage’s ownership is put into question. Trengrose’s charm soon attracts London financier Toby and his wife Minty, and Toby immediately sniffs an opportunity to rent out Ezra’s cottage to tourists. But Ezra, a wily old chap, is prepared to battle to save his beloved home, and he has a number of secret weapons in his armoury. 

As Toby resorts to more drastic measures, Ezra’s case looks increasingly hopeless. But the recently deceased mistress of Trengrose took some secrets to her grave too, and she doesn’t intend to rest quietly until they come to light…

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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.