The thing I always notice about today's guest - Jane Wenham-Jones - is that you never know what colour her hair is going to be. It always has some sort of reddish tones in it - but those tones could be auburn or coppery gold - or even, the last time I saw her - red white and blue. Whatever else she is Jane is not boring!Definitely not boring. The other thing about Jane is her sense of humour. As Jane herself recalls, we first met at Caerleon Writers' Holiday (and yes, Jane - Caerleon is definitely the jewel of writers' holidays - that's why we're both addicted) I sat in on one of her Main Talks and laughed all the way through it - as a speaker she's a star. It was an hour of pure entertainment. Now I'm stunned to read that Jane actually thought me scary (moi, Jane? You have to be kiddin
g!) Well, I soon disillusioned her on that score. That was when she cornered me in the loo - yes I do remember Jane!As well as being a great speaker, Jane has written 3 excellent novels - and contributed to the Sexy Shorts range of Short Story collections, which raise money for charity. And the last time we were in Caerleon she told me about her latest project - a book on how to be a writer called Wannabe A Writer? She asked if I would like to contribute and sent me a detailed questionnaire. You'll probably remember that I wrote about the launch of Wannabe A Writer in May when I went down to join Jane and all the other contributors in Borders Charing Cross Road. That was when Jane had the red white and blue hair.
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'll be seeing Jane again soon in Caerleon - this time she's running the beginner's novel-writing course - Novel Writing - Where Do I Start and I'll be doing the Main Talk. I suspect we'll share a glass of wine - or two - or three . . . And Jane will probably end up dancing in - or even on - the bar on the final evening after the performance of the Cwmbach Male Voice Choir . Can't wait. I'm already starting to wonder - what colour will your hair be this time, Jane?So here's Jane Wenham-Jones
Congratulations Kate! I'm raising a glass to you (any excuse) on a fantastic achie
vement and here's to the next fifty...
MY GIVEAWAY QUESTION : Who is the scariest person you've ever met?
MY GIVEAWAY PRIZE: a signed copy of Wannabe a Writer - containing wit and wisdom from our Queen of Romance together with a signed copy of my third novel One Glass is Never Enough (because let's face it, if you want to be a writer, it won't be).
love janex
http://www.janewenham-jones.com/
http://www.wannabeawriter.co.uk/
Tra la la la la.. There must be fifty ways to leave your lover - tra la la la - as Paul Simons sang so eloquently. Or in Kate Walker's case - fifty ways to hook one in the first place. Fifty sizzling love affairs, fifty happy endings, FIFTY books - blimey! My admiration knows no bounds.
As one who has taken the best part of ten years to weep, wail (while doing god-only-knows-what damage to her liver) her way through a mere four books I literally do not know how this woman does it and was suitably terrified of her when we first met.
It was at Caerleon - the jewel of writing holidays - where we were both speakers. I
magine how daunted I felt standing up to give a how-to talk to an audience including someone who'd been there, done that, got several dozen of the T-shirts and always looked totally fabulous to boot.
magine how daunted I felt standing up to give a how-to talk to an audience including someone who'd been there, done that, got several dozen of the T-shirts and always looked totally fabulous to boot."She's very scary", I confided to my friend Maureen. "Go and talk to her," instructed Maureen, who doesn't have any truck with nonsense like that. I eventually cornered Kate in the loo (do you remember K?) and discovered how lovely she is. Generous too - she gave me so many tips for my writing book - Wannabe a Writer? - she's got nine page numbers in the index.
Congratulations Kate! I'm raising a glass to you (any excuse) on a fantastic achie
vement and here's to the next fifty... MY GIVEAWAY QUESTION : Who is the scariest person you've ever met?
MY GIVEAWAY PRIZE: a signed copy of Wannabe a Writer - containing wit and wisdom from our Queen of Romance together with a signed copy of my third novel One Glass is Never Enough (because let's face it, if you want to be a writer, it won't be).
love janex
http://www.janewenham-jones.com/
http://www.wannabeawriter.co.uk/
19 comments:
Hi Jane,
I've been reading and enjoying your short stories in magazines for years and I loved Perfect Alibis! It was such a great read. It's wonderful to see you here.
The scariest person I ever met - my old maths teacher. Many years later, I still break out in a cold sweat when I hear the words trigonometry!
Hi Julie! Thanks for that. :-) best janex
Hi Jane,
Mother in law. No contest. Terrifying.
She's descending this weekend. I have ear plugs and an exceedingly large bottle of gin hidden behind a Rick Stein cookbook.
Think of me.
Rach
Jane...you're so much fun!!!
The person who scared me the most was my mother one night when I was a child and had a fever. She came into my dark bedroom in the middle of the night to feel my forehead and I awakened in the weak light to see a witch standing over me with frazzled hair. Her complexion without makeup was pale as a ghost. That was the first time I had ever met my mother when she wasn't "made up".
Hugs,
JJ/blueberri
The scariest person I ever met was my Swedish teacher. She was so scary that even the worst slackers who easily skipped lessons of any other teacher didn't dare to skip any of her lessons.
Aw, now Rachel went and stole my answer!
Right down to the gin, dammit. However my inlaws have been and gone for this year. LOL
Otherwise...a year or so ago I went to a choral event and during a break I wanted to ask the leader (who's a well known composer/singer) where he did his training as it was possible my brother was there at the same time. ONly I didn't realize this guy was 6 foot forever and as soon as I opened my mouth I blushed and stammered. SO attractive....
My sister's husband always had this creepy smile on his face and most individuals would run a mile rather than face him. Luckily he is not nearby.
Do I have to narrow it down to a single person? Every time I'm going to interview someone for background for a book, they are the scariest person I'm ever going to meet. Even though I know that probably won't be true (I hope -- and I can't bring the gin bottle in case I'm wrong), it still borders on terrifying to have to approach someone who is an "expert" in their field and profess IGNORANCE and ask to be enlightened.
Besides that, it was probably my typing teacher who had a ruler and whacked our hands if the fingers arched too high.
Oh, my Irish maths teacher, Miss Kenny -- I went to a convent so anyone who wasn't a nun was Irish. I was so terrified of her that for the only time in my life I concentrated on numbers and came top in math. It didn't last...
My french teacher in 6th grade, Madame Faas. She'd call on you to conjugate a verb in front of the class and I was so nervous I'd whisper. I remember stumbling over "nous telephonons" and she kept shouting at me to get it right *shudder*
Kate H.
Back in my waitressing days (many moons ago), I came across the scariest looking biker dude I've ever seen. Tatoos on ever part of his body (including his neck - eek!), leather from here to eternity, and a face that showed its share of battle scars. However, he turned out to be a very nice person.
Just goes to show, you can't just a book...
Marcy
I guess I would have to go with a teacher we had back in Jr. high. He had a rep of being the worst teacher in school for his paddle. He had a paddle with holes in it and he would lift the boys off their feet when he used it on them. I never got the paddle but I made sure I didn't do anything wrong to get that paddle.
Hey - great answers and so sorry I didn't come back any earlier - have had no internet connection all day. Having shouted, sworn, blamed virgin, ntl and the world,and switched everything on and off about ten times and climbed my way down a bottle of red, I discovered a connection had come loose under my feet. So was probably my fault all along. Lovely to hear from you all though - even late in the day. Happy fiftieth again, Kate - raising a glass to you. love janexx
Definitely a horror of a boss whose tirades made me physically ill. Those days are long gone thank goodness.
Who knew there were so many scary teachers, lol. Mine was an English teacher, who also carried a ruler. She never rapped your hand, but she'd walk around to see who wasn't paying attention, backtrack all of a sudden and Wham, very hard on the desk in front of your nose. The poor person would almost fall of their chair, lol. She was so tough, no one ever failed any of her classes.
Hi Jane!
I had a nursing instructor once that everyone was scared of. We heard rumors before having her, that she brought nursing students to tears for recreation. I was scared to death when I found out that I had her for clinical rotations. She actually turned out to be one of the best instructors that I had. She was tough, but I think she just wanted us to care about what we were doing, not just go through the motions.
Hi Jane,
The scariest is my Step-Mother. When I was young she was very cold and distant.When I visited my Dad I always felt like an unwelcome guest. So I quit going on weekends when I was twelve.
I don't know who the scariest person I ever met actually was...
Last fall my doorbell rang and when I opened the door an old man stood at the bottom of my steps. He was wearing a mask and wearing a doo-rag and holding a cane. He never said a word. It was late at night and dark. Scared the beejeebers out of me!
I saw the actor Christopher Walken in the airport one time. Creepy
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