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Jane Adams Interview


Writewords talks to crime writer Jane Adams, whose novels include Fade to Grey, Like Angels Falling, Touching the Dark, The Greenway and Final Frame.

What’s your background- please give us a brief career biog and rundown of your books

I started to write in about 1992, when my son started school. Spent a couple of years papering the world(!) with my stories – mostly SF, horror, that sort of thing- and gathering a suitable bundle of rejection slips. Eventually, I started to get acceptances and a few stories were published in small press magazines. In June 1994 I sent the first chapters of my first novel, The Greenway, to Macmillan, on the suggestion of a friend. They asked to see the full MS…and the rest, as they say, is history. I’ve written eight books for Macmillan and two for Severn House. They are all crime, but many have either supernatural overtones of a historical link of some kind.

How, when and why did you first start writing?

It might sound crass, but it was purely on impulse. My son, the youngest of my two kids, had started school. I’d been a full time parent and part time employee in dead end jobs for a long time. Now, I was faced with a choice. Writing began on pure impulse as a way of filling the gap while I decided what to do next…trouble is, writing is addictive. I guess, the truth is, I must have been waiting to do this and just not realized it.

What kind of response did you get in the beginning?

Fortunately, I was incredibly naïve. It never occurred to me that the odds against publication were so long. The first story I ever wrote, I duly sent out – I forget which magazine. It was rejected, but the editor wrote a comment on the bottom, encouraging me to try again.

Who are your favourite writers/books and why?

I read widely, but there are favourites I return to, comfort food wise. I love Lord of the Rings, anything by Raymond Chandler and re read Alan Garner at regular intervals. I read a lot of SF, a fair amount of crime – John Connolly and Dennis Lehane being current favourites.

How did you feel when you first started sending your writing out into the world?

Scared!

What was your breakthrough moment ? ... sign up to WriteWords to read more

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