I grew up in England, on the south coast, in the days when children could buy “penny chews”. These were popular children’s snacks that were like small squares of fruit-flavoured toffee, wrapped in paper. I am sure they disappeared long ago. As L.P. Hartley said, “the past is a foreign country”.

France has been my home for many years, a number of them spent in Paris, where I worked as a translator. Of course, life in a big city was very different from my schooldays in a small English town. I soon grew used to travelling on the crowded métro every day and buying fruit and vegetables in the street markets. Little cinemas in backstreets showed classic old films, while major exhibitions of painting were held in stately museums such as the Grand Palais. Something interesting was always going on, and it felt glamorous to be living there. However, Paris is a city, with constant noise, traffic and pollution, and I missed the countryside, birds and animals.

When I was growing up in a house with a garden, I had a dog, a liver-and- white Springer spaniel called Bob, but because in Paris I lived in a flat, I didn’t think it would be fair to keep a dog. Now I am married to Jean-Luc, and we have moved to a house some 50 miles south of the city, near the forest of Rambouillet. Over the years we have adopted a dog, several cats and, of course, birds, not to mention the wild birds and the hedgehogs that we feed in the garden.

I don’t think my writing is unique! I suppose I have my own personal style, as every writer does.

Ghosts and unexplained phenomena have always fascinated me. I am convinced that life is actually much richer and stranger than it seems in our humdrum everyday reality. I wanted to write a ghost story, and since I was familiar with the Paris métro, I felt able to describe the atmosphere convincingly in A Paris Haunting. I think people like to read about weird phenomena taking place in very real and recognizable places, and I’m also sure that in this book many readers care about the cat.

When writing a children’s book, I remember all the books that I myself loved as a child. Books from my childhood are like old and treasured friends, and I will never willingly part with them. When I open one from my very early years, in my mind I can hear my mother’s voice reading to me. It’s so important to read to children.

The legend behind The Story of an Ordinary Lion is a medieval one, but I believe I’m the only writer who has told it from the lion’s point of view. The idea came to me on a trip to Venice, where there are plenty of classical paintings of Saint Jerome with his lion, not to mention the winged lion of Saint Mark displayed everywhere. My friend Alain designed the attractive cover for this book. I’m grateful to my books’ illustrators, Alain, Paolo and Jean, and to my friend Marianne, who does the layout of the text.

The story Tobias and the Demon is set in ancient Mesopotamia because that is where it allegedly took place, according to the Apocrypha. I have added details from my own imagination, and again it is told from an animal’s point of view. It wasn’t difficult for me to write from the dog’s perspective, having grown up with a dog. I think Tag is realistic in many ways, even if a dog could not literally tell a story. However, neither could a horse, yet Black Beauty continues to be popular, doesn’t it? I think it’s normal to feel empathy with animals because we ourselves are animals. We are all part of nature. Alain has designed another fine cover for the paperback edition, and drawn pen-and- ink illustrations, too.

I was still living in Paris when Ebony, the blackbird, appeared on the scene. As I relate in Ebony and Spica, I rescued him from a cat when he was very young, and after that he was so tame that I couldn’t safely release him. Spica, the starling, had fallen out of a high nest when my husband found him and brought him home, and he, too became a house-bird, perching on my shoulder without any fear. Ebony lived to the ripe old age of 16, and Spica reached 14. These are great ages for relatively small birds, and they were such personalities that I felt they deserved their own biographies

Let me say straight away that Zoe, in Woman in Blue and White, is not me. Luckily I have been spared most of her experiences, and I don’t think I have any psychic gifts. I have been on holiday to the beautiful Greek islands, however, and I believe in social justice and equality between the sexes. I have tried to weave some important issues (violence against women, homophobia, addiction) into what is mainly a gripping story with a touch of the supernatural.

I have started writing a sequel to Candlepower, but some difficult times at home in the past couple of years have caused me to put it aside for a while. I’m hoping very much to continue and complete it.

The most heartwarming message I ever receive from a fan is, “I couldn’t put it down”. This must be what every writer wants to hear.

On days without inspiration, a good review is definitely something that peps me up and encourages me to go on writing. I think all writers need readers to react to their work and give them feedback, and especially to recommend their books to other people.

After attending university in England, I worked in Paris for years as a translator. Struggles? I have been lucky and should not complain. I might say that it’s a minor struggle to find enough time to write.

I am indeed passionate about writing and reading and always feel better when I am able to do both, but I think I may lack the self-discipline of a really dedicated writer.

I began to write stories as a child, as soon as I had learned my letters. I didn’t realize at first that one normally began at the top of the page and worked one’s way down. I started my first story at the bottom of the page and ended it at the top, causing some confusion when my mother tried to read it. It was my mother who first inspired me to tell stories and gave me a lifelong love of books by reading aloud to me.

My first book was very derivative, imitating the children’s books that I used to borrow from the public library. That manuscript is languishing in a cupboard.

Names of characters are sometimes changed more than once as a book gets written. Certain names seem to suit the characters better as they develop. The “search and replace” function should be used with caution, however. I read about a character who started out as David and was later changed to Jeff. Unfortunately the author forgot that one scene featured Michelangelo’s David.

I have not yet written a series.

I tend to invent stories with a paranormal element. Something slightly weird and spooky is going on, but there is no gore or horror, just a cold finger on the back of the neck.

I haven’t yet experienced writer’s block, but I have sometimes been too preoccupied by personal problems to continue writing.

My preferred reader would be anybody with an open mind.

The first person to read the first draft is usually a friend, or else a fellow-writer who is willing to be a beta reader.

Reviews are so hard to get! In my experience, people promise to write a review and then, somehow, they don’t do it. My most perceptive review so far was written by a man whom I have never met and who lives in another country.

The word “story” signifies a tale that holds a reader’s full attention. You identify with the characters and feel you must find out what happens next and how the problems are resolved.

No, I don’t think that an author should be bound by genre. I have written three novels, three children’s books and a memoir. It’s a good idea to explore different directions.

I am currently working on a sequel to my novel Candlepower.

My place for writing is my study, at my computer, and I tend to do it in the evenings because the day-time fills up with all kinds of other tasks.

I haven’t yet found the ideal way to promote my work. I use social media, and I am hoping that QuotesRain will make a difference. I have had some bookmarks printed, showing the covers of my books, and I hand them out at every opportunity.

I would like to share with my readers and fans the news that my latest novel, Woman in Blue and White, is now available in paperback and can be ordered online or from all good bookshops. Meanwhile, if anyone would like to buy a signed copy, I have a few that I can send out at a reduced price – with a free bookmark! I can be contacted at jandoo47-writing@yahoo.fr