Author Biography
Jennifer Moore is a novelist, children’s author and freelance writer. She was was the first UK winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Competition and was previously shortlisted for the Greenhouse Funny Prize.
Her numerous funny children’s books (writing as Jenny Moore) are published by Maverick Arts Publishing and her debut psychological thriller The Woman Before is published by HQ Digital, Harper Collins.
Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic, including The Guardian, Mslexia, The First Line and Short Fiction.
Biography from JennyMoore.wordpress.com
When did you start writing? Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest efforts included poems about wobbly teeth, squawking clarinets and a superhero flying pig. The latter was displayed as a giant painted poster on the town library wall which was probably my first taste of publication!
My teenage years were very busy with music and at one stage I planned to become a woodwind teacher, but my brilliant GCSE and A-level English teachers helped me realise that my heart lay with words rather than notes. My first paid short story was published in the Guardian as a postgraduate student, which was very exciting, and I started submitting pieces to magazines and anthologies with increasing regularity after that.
How did you come up with the idea for The Woman Before?
I started writing The Woman Before a few months after moving house, while the associated stress and upheaval was still fresh in my mind. We knew the previous owners so there was no mystery surrounding them, but a passing joke they made about the resident ghost planted a small seed in my mind…
Buying a house is a huge financial and emotional undertaking, often based on nothing more than two short viewings, which made it the perfect starting point for Fern’s story, providing another pivotal point of change after her life has already been turned upside down.
The Woman Before
A perfect home
When Fern and Paul move into the large, old house on Crenellation Lane, with beautiful high ceilings and a luscious garden, they think they’ve found their dream home. After the devastating loss of Fern’s twin sister, it will be a fresh start and somewhere to raise their first baby.
A destructive obsession
But as soon as they arrive, Fern starts having terrifying nightmares about the woman who lived there before. When the woman showed Fern around, they bonded over their pregnancies. Now, Fern can’t let her go. Does she have something to do with the strange things happening in the house? Paul fears his wife has relapsed, obsessing in the same way she did with her twin.
A fatal secret
Fern questions the neighbors about the previous owner, but nobody wants to talk. It’s like the woman never even existed. Refusing to give up, Fern uncovers a shocking secret and now suddenly her whole family is in danger…
You’ve written children’s books before. Why did you switch to the mystery/thriller genre? What is it about this genre that interested you?
I haven’t switched so much as extended my range! I’m still very much a children’s writer too, with new middle grade titles in the pipeline alongside The Woman Before.
When I was studying music, I was warned that playing the clarinet, oboe and flute together would be problematic in terms of the different embouchures required but it never felt like an issue and I was able to switch from one to the other quite happily. Luckily it’s the same with writing for me.
I feel very fortunate to be working in both fields and hope that the skills I’ve developed in my children’s writing feed into my adult novels and vice versa.
On the face of it, the genres might seem very different (my children’s books tend to be funny rather than dark) but I think there are a lot of overlaps in terms of the importance of tight plotting and the balance of how much information to reveal and at what point.
I’ve also been writing and publishing shorter fiction for adults for a number of years so it’s not such a jump as it might seem. A lot of my short stories deal with the darker side of life, in terms of loss and death, and it’s been great to explore that darkness more fully within the mystery/thriller genre.
Did you have a specific writing routine/process for The Woman Before? Has that changed at all?
I started work on The Woman Before while I was out on submission – it was good to have something new to get my teeth into and distract from the constant inbox-checking! As such it was a more relaxed process than some of my current projects.
I remember taking it on holiday with me that year and writing longhand on board a boat, staring out over the sea. A few months later I won a complete manuscript assessment in a Mslexia writing competition and only had a month to claim my prize which hurried the process on.
Having that deadline to meet was much closer to how I work now. At the moment I’m juggling a number of different writing, editing and proofing deadlines which means I have to be very disciplined with my time and approach. Zoom writing sprints with a lovely group of writers I’ve met online have been a great way to keep myself accountable and introduce some welcome sociability into what can be a very solitary job otherwise.
As an experienced author, what do you suggest for aspiring authors? Any advice or suggestions that worked for you that you can pass along?
Keep writing and keep going! Dealing with rejection is never easy which is why determination and a thick skin go a long way in this game. You just have to pick yourself back up and try again, remembering that every time you rework your book or write something new, you’re honing your craft.
Every time you submit, you’re giving someone else a chance to fall in love with your work. And if they don’t, that doesn’t mean someone else won’t. It’s such a subjective business and there’s a lot of luck involved, but your manuscript is never going to be in the right place at the right time if it stays on your laptop!
I found that continuing to write and submit short stories and poetry alongside my book submissions made it feel less like all my eggs were in one basket, and an acceptance is always a cause for celebration, whether it’s a 50-word micro fiction or a 90,000-word novel!
Don’t stop there either – remember to celebrate all the wins along the way, from finishing a draft or a chapter, to getting a partial/full request from an agent.
Jenny’s Books
THE WOMAN BEFORE published by HQ Digital, Harper Collins, July 2022 (eBook and audio)
DON’T GET YOUR TUTU IN A TWIST published by Maverick Arts Publishing, August 2021 (picture book)
THE MISADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS NABB published by Maverick Arts Publishing, May 2021 (middle grade)
BAUBLE, ME AND THE FAMILY TREE published by Maverick Arts Publishing, September 2020 (middle grade)
AUDREY ORR AND THE ROBOT RAGE published by Maverick Arts Publishing, March 2020 (middle grade) – selected by the Reading Agency for the 2020 Summer Reading Challenge.
AGENT STARLING: OPERATION BAKED BEANS published by Maverick Arts Publishing, October 2019 (middle grade)
CHAPTER READERS & EARLY READERS published by Maverick Arts Publishing (reading scheme books)
Coming soon… EMBA OAK AND THE TERRIBLE TOMORROWS published by Maverick Arts Publishing (middle grade, series)
Speaking of ‘wins’, I’ve always found competitions a great source of motivation and inspiration, although I’ve tended to stick to free entry ones. Writing something new to match a contest brief can be a great way to extend your range and try out different ideas, as well as the chance to get your work noticed.
Competition wins and shortlistings have been such a confidence boost to me over the years and the prizes have always been very welcome too, from a hamper of fairtrade chocolate to a trip to a writing retreat in Iceland!
What book(s) are you reading at the moment?
I’ve just finished reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, which I absolutely loved.
Elizabeth Zott is a fantastic main character and I’m not surprised the book’s been such a hit!
What book(s) most inspired you to write?
It’s hard to pinpoint just one – I think probably every book I’ve enjoyed as a reader has also fed my inspiration as a writer. Having said that, I loved the voice and darkness of Peter Ackroyd’s books, which I read in my early twenties, and there’s a special place in my heart for Middlemarch and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.
I also remember going to a lecture by Joseph Heller at university and listening to him read out some of his first lines, including one that had never made it into a book.
He offered that one out to the audience, saying we could have it for free if we wanted. That was a great moment, although I haven’t used it yet…
So now that The Woman Before is out, what are you working on? Do you have another story in the works?
I’m currently working on another psychological thriller which will be published next year. I can’t say too much about it yet but I’m looking forward to getting stuck in with the first round of edits over the summer.
I’m also working on a four-part middle grade fantasy series with Maverick Arts Publishing, the first of which is out at the end of October, plus a funny historical middle grade novel set in Victorian London.
That’s also out this autumn with another UK publisher although the details are still under wraps for now. It’s an exciting time all round!
What do you hope people take away from reading your books?
I hope they come away with a strong sense of satisfaction and resolution at the end, together with a real feeling of having walked in my characters’ shoes through the twists and turns of the story.
I also hope readers enjoy the unusual mother-in-law sidekick in The Woman Before. Mothers-in-law often get a bad rap and I had a lot of fun working with Tina!
