My new book, ‘Martine’, will be out on Kindle in just over two weeks, and it’s partly a tale of the triumph of new love over grief for love lost. But it’s also a story of the pernicious futility of misogyny and homophobia. Some of my readers will […]
When I was five and first at school, there was a little girl in my class called Jane. I haven’t seen her since I was seven, I wonder what happened to her. But I remember she had a lisp which all the grown-ups thought was absolutely adorable. So […]
Rock music looms large in my novels, as it always has in my life. Rock bands are central to my vision of the Saltbury Universe and most of the ones I talk about include lesbian or bi-sexual women. There’s Debbie Stewart’s ‘Xeroed’ and ‘Aleyse’, and Deb has been […]
It’s strange how ideas for books come to me. I’ve been wondering for a while how long to continue the ‘Saltbury’ series. The next book, ‘Martine’ will be out in July. After that I have two books part written, and then there’s ‘Gold’ which is finished, and which, […]
Those who know me will remember I used to be a heavy smoker. Over more than a couple of decades I found myself getting through ever increasing numbers of cigarettes until I reached 30 or more a day and started to scare myself. What finally stopped me, apart […]
Many of us in Britain have been shocked by the assault on abortion rights being threatened by the US Supreme Court. To most of us the US has long been seen as a beacon of freedom and modernity, yet now we see constitutional rights under attack. And with […]
As I’ve said before, novels like mine which have first person narrators, mean you really have to get under their skin. The story has to be told in the character’s voice, not mine, so I have to get deeply enough into her soul to know how she’ll feel […]
‘Stalker’ is a centuries old hunting term, but it has acquired the meaning of a person so obsessed with someone else that they constantly try to force themselves into their lives. They can range from a nuisance to a violent and terrifying threat, often when their sexual advances […]
When reading stories, readers like the feeling of an immersive world that they can actually inhabit along with the characters. And it’s often tiny details, not long-winded descriptions, that can provide that realism or, for that matter, jar if you get it wrong. There are many such details, […]
I have commented before on the way stories and/or individual characters sometimes rebel. I might have a detailed book plan when I start writing, but what do I know? I’m only the author after all. Ultimately, it’s as if the story writes itself and I just do as […]
Jo Brodie 