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| Photos courtesy of publisher |
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Christina, please tell us a little about yourself.
Many thanks for inviting me to your Book Blog - it's lovely to be here.
Stuff about me? Well, I live in a small Oxfordshire market town (more like a big village) and grew up in a very small Berkshire village - so unashamedly use both as the backgrounds for my rom-coms. I know very little about current city life (although I have lived in London) which is why my books, which I fondly call bucolic frolics, have a sort of retro feel. In fact my whole life has a sort of retro feel - I must be the only person in the world without a mobile phone (I'm phone-phobic and don't even like answering the landline!) - and I'm continually confused by my computer.
I'm married to The Toyboy Trucker, have one daughter, and nine rescued cats. I'm a vegetarian, love animals, fairgrounds, fireworks, 60s music and fashions, and steam trains. I had my first short story published when I was 14, and have written ever since. Writing is part of me - not a career - just something I do, like breathing. I had my first novel published in 1997 and I've been writing as a full-time job since 1998, but before that I had 27 jobs and was sacked from 19 of them for writing when I should have been working... I still work as a part-time barmaid in several local pubs because writing is a very lonely occupation and the pubs (and the customers!) give me inspiration...
Your novels have the feel good factor (Seeing Stars is my favourite). What can we expect from Never can say Goodbye?
Thank you so much for liking Seeing Stars - it was a lovely book to write. Yes, all my books are unashamedly feel-good - mainly because I'm a bit of a Pollyanna and would love real life to be all lovely and happy all the time - but it isn't. So, while I can't alter reality, in my fictional worlds nothing really terrible happens (everything unpleasant happens off the page), there's a lot of laughter, and there's always a happy-ever-after - so this is more or less what happens in NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE.
NCSG is set in a vintage frock shop - and it's a rom-com ghost story. There are several romances too, a flurry of mad villagers, an awful lot of ghosts - and even more lovely dresses. Frankie owns the frock shop and is trying to avoid falling in love with Dexter the Beckhamesque reluctant florist in the market place, and when she's told her shop is haunted, calls in Maisie the Useless Medium. Maisie not only fails to "lay the ghost" but before long, Francesca's Fabulous Frocks has more dead customers than live ones which is when the fun really starts...
Do you enjoy the retro fashions and vintage shops?
Love them! As I said earlier (repetition - sorry!) I love 60s fashions, and an awful lot of my clothes are - um - pre-loved... We have a great charity shop in our town that sells fab frocks from the 50s upwards so I buy loads there, and as I've never thrown anything away, I frequently turn up at parties wearing something that belonged to my mum or even my nan. My favourite dresses in my wardrobe are a lilac 1950s full-skirted strapless frock a la Marilyn Monroe (sadly I look NOTHING like MM in it!) and a black brocade evening dress that was second hand forty years ago...
I know when I see Christina Jones on the cover I can be sure of a feel good read. What are your favourite genres or authors?
I'll confess I rarely read other rom-coms. This isn't because I don't like the genre (I love it!) but because when I read other people's books that are similar to mine I either get despondent or I'm scared I'll copy - even subconsciously. My favorite rom-com writers are Jill Mansell and Carole Matthews. But mainly my book shelves are crammed with thrillers and police procedurals. British ones - I only feel comfortable with books set in the UK in areas I know and understand - and not too gory because I'm a wuss. So, my favourite thriller/crime authors are Dick Francis (Felix Francis is doing an ace job taking over now his father is dead), Peter Robinson, Anne Cleeves and Deborah Crombie. If I'm reading Cosy Crime it has to be Lesley Cookman, Simon Brett and Caroline Graham (I love, love,love Midsomer Murders!). I wish I was clever enough to plan and plot like they do - I'm definitely a frustrated wannabe crime novelist... Maybe, one day....
You can find out more about Christina Jones here
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