News & Blog by Jaye Ford
Read the latest news and bulletins, essays, features, opinions from our bestselling authors. Find out what's being said, debated, and discussed in the world of books and ideas.
I love a tough girl cop or private eye, even a determined forensic pathologist. But I’m interested in what happens before the police turn up, my thoughts always running to: ‘how did they survive that?’ instead of: ‘I hope they get the bad guy’. So I write about ordinary people thrust into the extraordinary. Mostly, I send bad people into the lives of regular women...
I added a new gadget to my toolbox of writing equipment a couple of months ago and it’s transformed the portability of my writing life. I bought a handbag-sized laptop. Yes, I know the average-sized laptop is portable – but come on! They’re not designed for people with only average upper-body strength who also have to carry a handbag and/or luggage. The new teeny-tiny one, with its...
A yoga class isn’t the obvious place to find inspiration for a thriller but that’s often where it happens for me. Writing is hard on the body. Not like digging a ditch is but sitting still for hours with your hands primed over a keyboard day after day does nasty things to muscles. To make it worse, I’ve had a bad back for years – the result of an injury and bad genes – and long periods...
The best thing I ever did for my writing was to join a critique group. I live in a regional area with not many opportunities for writing companionship. Almost every writing course I’ve signed up for has been cancelled due to lack of interest. About four years ago, I met historical author Isolde Martyn at a conference. A spot had opened up in her group and she invited me to join,...
I’ve wanted to write a book since I was at school but didn’t get serious about realising the dream until ten years ago. From talking to other beginner writers, I see that I started with a couple of advantages. I was a journalist for twelve years and spent another six years running a public relations business from home. If you’re thinking that gave me a leg-up into publishing, you’re wrong....
A woman told me at a signing recently that someone she knew had been to the house in Dungog where ‘that’ had happened. The ‘that’ she was referring to was the terrorising of four women at an isolated B&B near Dungog in the NSW Hunter Valley, which is the story that unfolds in my thriller Beyond Fear. My first thought was that I sincerely hope it didn’t happen to anyone in Dungog – or anywhere...
