Author Interview: Jane O’Reilly

Author Interview: Jane O’Reilly

Today I am pleased to welcome Jane O’Reilly on to the blog with a quick interview! She’s come up with some fantastic answers!

Q&A

What is your favourite thing about writing books?
I love the creative challenge of it, especially with a more complicated book. It’s the perfect choose your own adventure game in the early drafts when it belongs only to you.

Who is your favourite character in your book and why?
I have to say my favourite character is actually Bryant, which I suspect might be a surprise to some readers. He was so much fun to write because he always says what he thinks and doesn’t question himself. He’s crass and angry and rude. I was very ill with endometriosis whilst writing this book (and the next one in the series, Deep Blue), and Bryant was a way to express a lot of the things I was feeling at the time but could not say out loud.

What is your favourite drink to consume while writing?
I drink a lot of tea! I drink a lot of herbal teas because I try to avoid caffeine as much as possible. Soothe Tea from T2 is my favourite.

Do you have any bad habits while you’re writing?
My worst habit is that I am really terrible at saving things under sensible file names so that I can easily find them again. I’ve been known to call something ‘draft 7’ and leave it at that. It causes all sorts of problems when I need to find the draft again 6 months later and can’t remember what file I saved it in or what I called it.

How do you research your books?
I read a lot. Fiction is vital because every book teaches you something new, be it about plot, or character, or just a word you haven’t heard before. Films can also be really helpful. I regularly visit museums such as the Science and Natural History museums in London, which are only a short train ride away from where I live. And the internet is basically the biggest collection of facts in the world, invaluable for a science fiction writer.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Definitely a plotter. With multiple points of view and a complicated story arc, plotting is a must. I didn’t plot as extensively for my earlier books as they were much shorter and I could generally hold most of the book in my head. But even with a carefully worked out plot, there is always room for manoeuvre and things aren’t set in stone. In general I always know where I am going, though I may not always know exactly how I am going to get there. Figuring those details out is all part of the fun.

If you could live in any fictional world, which would you choose and why?
I’d really like to live in the future New York of the In Death series by JD Robb. Flying cars, cleaning droids, professional mother status – it’s a future which looks very positive for women. Plus Roarke!

If you could befriend any fictional character, who would you choose and why?
I think it would have to be Kate Daniels from Ilona Andrew’s futuristic UF series. She’s tough, she’s interesting, she knows a lot of fascinating people, and she gets things done. Plus she’s great with a sword, so it would be quite safe to go out into a city full of demons and monsters and magic with her at your side.

About the book

2187: Earth is cold, dead and divided.
The rich hide away while the rest will do anything to survive. Humanity have only one hope: crossing hostile alien territory to reach a habitable planet. It’s lucky that for some, fighting their way through space is just a way of life . . .
Jinnifer Blue is on the run. An expert pilot, she apprehends criminals on behalf of the government and keeps her illegal genetic modifications a closely guarded secret. But when a particularly dangerous job goes south, Jinn is left stranded on a prison ship with one of the most ruthless criminals in the galaxy.
Now she must decide if she can trust her co-prisoner – because once they discover what the prison ship is hiding, she definitely can’t trust anyone else . . .

About the Author

Jane O’Reilly would like to say that she’s the secret love child of Wonder Woman and grew up on a tropical island in the Pacific, but in reality she grew up in the north of England where it was quite cold and if anyone had any super powers, they kept them well hidden. After university and a brief and very misguided spell as a teacher, she decided it would be better for everyone if she stayed at home and looked after her children. She wrote her first novel when her youngest was a baby, and has published numerous contemporary and erotic romances with Harlequin Escape and Carina UK. But what she really wanted to write was a book about a space pirate in which she could blow things up . . .

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Would you want to like to be friends with Kate Daniels?