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On The Table Read, “the best book magazine in the UK“, author Jan Foster talks about her historical fantasy romance book series, The Naturae Series.
Written by JJ Barnes
I interviewed author Jan Foster about her life and career, what inspired her to start writing, and the story of her historical fantasy romance book series, The Naturae Series.
Tell me a bit about who you are.
By day, I juggle consultancy work with family, but by night I sneak off, into the past. My penchant for sprinkling history with magic is fueled by coffee and Cadburys.
When not writing, I take the dogs and small monsters into the countryside, especially if there is a castle or historic building there with a cosy coffee shop in which to escape the rain of Manchester, England.
When did you first WANT to write a book?
I’ll be honest, until I wrote one, I didn’t really think about it! My focus had previously been writing as a part of a project management career with a lot of business documentation.
When did you take a step to start writing?
I’ve always written; first seriously in university while doing my drama degree—plays and screenplays, dissertations, and the like, and I loved it. Then I ended up writing a LOT of business documents and kind of forgot the joy of writing for pleasure.
After maternity leave, when I was considering what to do with regards to returning to work, a producer contact commissioned me to adapt a series of short stories into a film script and I got the joy back. It made me want to write more, so, in between childcare and building a business consultancy business and becoming a landlord, I started a novel and a children’s book (simultaneously) and that was it—hooked! I realized that was what I wanted to do.
How long did it take you to complete your first book from the first idea to release?
The children’s book (Mitch and Mooch Try Swimming) took what seemed like forever. The writing was quite quick, once I’d bottomed out the idea behind the series, but developing the characters from concept to finalized illustrated book of 43 pages took over a year.
My first novel also took about a year from concept to final product as well, but that was slowed by a lot of research and not a lot of time to write. Thanks, COVID lockdown homeschooling!
How long did it take you to complete your latest books from the first idea to release?
Once I’d finished book 1, Disrupting Destiny, then I challenged myself to write faster so I competed the prequel, Risking Destiny as a NaNoWriMo project and wrote 60,000 words in a month. It was a lot shorter than the main books in the Naturae series but it proved to me writing intensively CAN be done. Let’s not talk about the solid month of research and prep work on the plot beforehand.
Now, I average an entire book from concept to first draft in about 4 months, which is a lot more realistic moving forward. Writing in a specific historical timeperiod takes work and I pride myself on accuracy so it can be a bit stop/start at times when I need to find a specific reference or learn about how something used to be done. For the prequel, I’ve had to learn about blacksmithing (including how to shoe a horse!), fletching, and medieval battle techniques, for example.
I’d say I can bring a 130,000 word novel from start to published in about 5-6 months if I really put my mind to it. I am aiming to publish 2-3 books a year in the historical fantasy genre.
What made you want to write these books?
I actually have two books in the works at present – another prequel (Destiny Awaiting) which will become a new reader magnet and is an enemies to lovers historical fantasy romance, and, a co-authored historical thriller.
The co-authored book came about because I took a chance; after feeling empowered by the 20Books conference in Vegas in November 2021, I thought perhaps that I actually did have some talent to offer. When the opportunity came along to work with an author I respected, I applied to the open submission and was chuffed to bits to be accepted! We are just working through the final edits now and I’ll have a release date soon. In the meantime, I’m trying to finish another book in my Naturae Series.
I wanted to write that one because, although I have another prequel as a reader magnet (Risking Destiny), I think the time period and genre of it (it’s a tragic romance and villains back story) doesn’t lead as well as it could do into the main series. It’s well written, and well loved by viking fans or tragedy fans, but isn’t doing the best job of pulling readers of historical fantasy adventures into the main Tudor based series. Rookie error which I’m trying to remedy with a different prequel.
What were your biggest challenges with writing them?
The co-authored book was a whole different set of challenges—I’m used to doing what I want with a story! But with a joint piece of work, there has to be a lot of agreement on how to approach something. The first draft was surprisingly quick to write, but when we went through it, there were a lot of places where the storyline we wrote could be strengthened, so the re-writes took a little more time.
Technical issues with document sharing etc didn’t help, plus I was writing in a time-period which is a lot less familiar to me (WWII) so I had to do a lot of research as well. I have also realized that I cannot mentally jump around in time—I need that immersion in a specific time and place to give the story credibility!
Who or what inspired you when creating your Protagonist?
My two main characters in the Naturae series are an established couple. When I started writing, I looked a lot at the books which I enjoyed reading and realized that, at the ripe old age of late 40’s, I wasn’t that interested in the first flushes of a romantic relationship; I wanted to know what happened next. How the couple coped with the challenges life together throws at them. I also think, if I’m the model for my readers, then they will come into a relationship with baggage (secrets!), and then how they can grow together through their (eternal) life despite what circumstances throws at them.
As for inspiration for their characters, I put on my acting hat and thought about how I’d feel if I had been through what they had in the early part of their lives, how that might shape me as a person. I also just wanted to write a gentle, kind and quietly heroic hero, and a spunky but somewhat flighty heroine!
Who or what inspired you when creating your Antagonist?
I love getting into the psychology of antagonists! I’m always frustrated when I read a book and the ‘baddie’ is just a baddie power grabbing with no real reason for it behind their actions. This annoyance inspired me to write the antagonist of Disrupting Destiny’s back story as an entire novel (Risking Destiny), as no-one is born evil in the real world. They are ‘made’ as much as heroes are.
Then, with Anarchic Destiny, the reader is introduced to a very morally grey character, Henry Fitzroy, who we aren’t sure if he’s the antagonist at first (or at the end) or if there is another antagonist who we should worry about more. Again, the back stories have been laid out already in earlier books and I hope that readers will begin to see the entire story arc of the series more in book 2 ready for book 3.
What is the inciting incident of these books?
Disrupting Destiny starts with a rebirth – one of MC’s is ‘made’ fae, but really the inciting incident happens when Annabella/Aioffe is kidnapped and the couple are torn apart to deal with very different destinies. She has to face up to the secret she ran away from in the first place, and he has to survive a near death experience, come to terms with who he is now in a changing landscape of belief systems, as well as try and find his lover!
What is the main conflict of these books?
It depends on the characters! Each of them have different conflicts to reconcile through the plot, as well as themes running through the Naturae series—against the odds survival, destiny, hope and the nature of belief. These themes provide the backdrop for the main points of conflict for the characters as they are as much victims of circumstance as they are the drivers of change.
Book 1, Disrupting Destiny, the fate of an entire race is at stake, blown apart by internal political conflict. In book 2, Anarchic Destiny, the realm of Naturae’s stability is under threat when the succession can’t be guaranteed.
All the conflicts in the fantasy world are mirrored by real historical events in England, so we can explore how things did pan out and how they could have panned out… I won’t spoil it for you by saying which way around that is!
Did you plot your books in advance, or fly by the seat of your pants and write freely?
I’m a plantster – I have a plan, not down to scene by scene, but I know where it’s going. My characters have an irritating habit of dealing with circumstances in their own way though so it’s a little bit ‘edge of seat what are they going to do’ pantsting!
Did you get support with editing, and how much editing did your books need?
I have a few fabulous beta readers who happen to be pro editors / dev editors as well, so that’s helpful! The co-author book is going via what seems like a lot of rounds of professional editors though and with two of us looking at it, there’s hopefully not a lot for them to do!
What is the first piece of writing advice you would give to anyone inspired to write a story?
Start with what you love to read—motivation will be harder to come by if you don’t love what you are writing about. Understand tropes and genres (I didn’t, my mistake at first) and remember, there is no triumph without the TRY and the UMPH. It takes work, dedication to sit down even when you don’t feel the ‘muse’ and put words down. Sometimes the only way is Arse In Seat (AIS as I like to nag myself, time to get AIS, Jan!).
Can you give me a hint about any further books you’re planning to write?
Once these next two are in the publication pathway, I’ll be turning my mind much more to Book 3 in the Naturae Series. It’s going to be set in Elizabethan times which I am so so so excited about as she is my absolute favourite queen.
And, finally, are your proud of your accomplishment? Was it worth the effort?
I am. There isn’t a lot better than holding a book you have written, physically in your hands! I’ll be happy when I can fill a bookshelf with my works though, so lots more to do!
Pop all your book, website and social media links here so the readers can find you:
Social Links
Websites: www.escapeintoatale.com (Author Website)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janfosterauthor
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B084LF154S
Blog: https://escapeintoatale.com/short-stories-and-articles/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/escapeintoatale
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20093349.Jan_Foster
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jan.foster.author/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JanFoster
Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@janfosterauthor
LinkTree https://linktr.ee/janfosterauthor
Subscribe to my newsletter https://www.subscribepage.com/mailingsubscribe and I’ll send you a free copy of the Naturae Series prequel Risking Destiny (a full length novel set in Viking Age Orkney!) to enjoy!
Fancy getting Advance Reader Copies of all of my books? Join the Launch Team here https://www.subscribepage.com/naturaelaunchteam
Book Links:
Disrupting Destiny – Book 1 www.books2read.com/disruptingdestiny
Anarchic Destiny – Book 2 www.books2read.com/anarchicdestiny
Risking Destiny – Prequel www.books2read.com/riskingdestiny
Mitch and Mooch Try Swimming www.books2read.com/mmts
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