A scientist’s journey into fiction: Jo fenton on crafting her writing career

Jo was born in Essex and raised in Hertfordshire before moving to Manchester at the age of 18. In this interview, she shares insights into her writing journey and the process that led her to become a published author of five books, with a sixth on the way.

When did you first start writing and what was it that made you want to start, what inspired you?

‘I’ve had stories in my head for a long, long, long time.  Two things came together for me to actually start writing: the first being that my youngest child was ten, so I had much more time; and the second was that I had learned touch typing. What finally got me started with writing was something called ‘National Novel Writing Month’. The task was to write fifty thousand words in the month of November, that essentially would be your novel. It was my husband who turned to me and said, “why don’t you do that?”, and I thought amazing he’s given me permission to go out there and actually write, that’s how it started.’

How did you navigate publishing?

I was quite lucky in a way as I had started attending a writing group, one of the ladies that went there was a freelance editor for a publishing company, she mentioned that her company would really like my books. But before going down that route, I think every new author assumes you have got to get an agent, so that’s what I did. I sent out to six agents and got four rejections fairly quickly. I’m still waiting to hear back from one of them and that was six and a half years ago! So, I remembered the publishing company ‘Crooked Cat’ that the woman in my writing group had spoken of and I submitted to them on the Saturday evening and heard back on the Friday that they’d love to sign me up with them. It was in July 2018 that my first book ‘The Brotherhood’ was published. That company later closed, and I now have Bloodhound as my current publishers and fun news next week my next books come out!!!

Who are some of the authors that have inspired you, do you have a top 3 favourite books?

I would say Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Dick Francis. Whilst they’re not necessarily the one’s I would read all the time, I love the way they write. However, there’s one Dorothy L. Sayers book ‘Gaudy Night’ which I’ve read so often I’m now on my second copy.

However, there’s one Dorothy L. Sayers book ‘Gaudy Night’ which I’ve read so often I’m now on my second copy. I literally love that book to pieces!

My favourite genre to read would be Historical Fiction/Romance, I love all the Georgett Heyer Books, Jane Austen specifically Persuasion and Jane Eyre.

Did you go to university, what was your path to becoming an author like?

My career path has been very scientific. I wanted to do medicine when I was growing up, so I did all the sciences (chemistry, physics, and maths at A-Level). I went to university and ended up doing biochemistry. I spent thirteen years in the NHS doing nuclear medicine and now I’m a manager in clinical research.

My job and my other job, writing, are very different, that’s why it suprises me how much they feed into eachother. Being a writer has allowed me to be more creative, to come up with better ideas in my workplace.

What is your writing routine like - do you have any specific things that you do?

Until August I used to just write at my work desk, it wasn’t until I was at a writing conference that I decided to have my writing space somewhere else. So now I’m set up with a desk in the spare room. Every morning before work I’ll go up there, even if only for five minutes, and try to write at least a paragraph. I have an Excel spreadsheet tracking my daily word count and I think as long as I get one hundred words down each day, then I’m happy with that!

I don’t have a specific thing I need to do to get in the mood because I just don’t have the time. But my process has definitely evolved a lot since I first started. When I was writing my first book, I wrote the first half in a stream of consciousness style, just trying to get something on the page. Whilst this was fun to do it took ten drafts rather than my usual three or four. So, as you can imagine, when you’re working full time this isn’t the most efficient method. It wasn’t until later that I developed a much better routine, where I plot and plan on a chapter-by-chapter basis, using the snowflake method too.

When did you first start to feel like you were ‘making a mark’ with your writing?

I’d say it was my hairdresser! She had said to me that this was the first book (The Brotherhood) she had read that she’d actually finished and enjoyed since she was at school. Just knowing that I’d brought someone back to reading made me feel really good.

I stand by the idea that I want to write books that people can relate to, it’s all about the story telling!

What’s next for you in your writing career, any particular projects?

I have very nearly finished writing my sixth book, which is the final book of the current series that I’m working on. I’d say there’s about another five thousand words for me to write, I’m in the final stretch, the final showdown. That’s my favourite bit to be writing, editing definitely is not my favourite!

• I also have a historical crime project in the pipeline which has been simmering for about one year. It will be set in the regency period around 1816 in Manchester UK. (Editor’s Note - Jo has set up a link between this new series and her old series, can you guess what this might be?).

Finally, if you could have tea/dinner with any author (living or dead) who would you choose?

Agatha Christie, I want to know what her writing process was, how many drafts did it take her to get such a beautifully crafted tight plot that hangs together in every aspect?