Jo has always lived in the southern part of England , in
varying counties, despite a desire to live abroad; she has yet to experience
that, except from a holiday perspective. The place Jo is pulled toward mostly
is America , in particular New York ; but she has
yet to step on a plane in that direction, the long-distance element so far
being a hindrance.
As a child, she appeared in some TV commercials after
attending a famous drama school in central London from the ages of 4-7.
Jo’s interest in writing has been there in the background,
for as long as she can remember; it was something she had always wanted to do
since she went to school – after doing well in her English Literature classes.
She used to carry a notebook around with her and write ideas down, but she was
quite private about her writing until becoming an adult.
Her first published novel, Broken Strings, is due out at the beginning of October to celebrate
her birthday. It will be the first of a trilogy detailing the trials and
tribulations of the lives of its two main characters, Mia James and Grey
Bailey.
Talk about newspapers
and how they affect your life.
I am quite opinionated in what papers I want to read. I
avoid what the British refer as the gutter press like the plague. They are
namely the ones that have all the dubious celebrity stories and the reputation
for alleged phone hacking to get stories. I am definitely one for the
electronic age so now read most newspaper stories from the Guardian and Independent
on my iPad.
Tell about the last
time you were late for something.
I am always punctual; it drives me mad when people are
late. I tend to arrive over-early if
anything.
Say something about
apologizing.
I am a great believer in saying sorry when you are in the
wrong. It is sometimes not easy to do,
but you have to be the better person.
In what ways does TV
influence your life?
I used to be a TV addict, but now I often can go a week
without seeing anything if I am busy elsewhere without it bothering me. These
days the only TV shows I view are a few British and Aussie soap operas, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Dexter and Revenge. I do like things like CSI, NCIS,
and The Mentalist, but I do not sit
down to them rigidly each week.
Tell about a time
when you were lost.
I have no direction sense at all, except left from right but
ask me which way is North and I have no idea! In the days before Sat Nav, I
drove to see my boyfriend who lived in Derbyshire from where I lived in Berkshire and his directions made no sense once I came
off the main motorway. I saw the same roundabout about 50 times! Was not happy.
To learn more about Jo and her work, visit:
It was a pleasure to
get to know you better, Jo. We have a bit in common: I always wanted to live in
New York
