Jean Fullerton – in conversation with Lorna Hunting

Born and bred in East London Jean was a District Nurse by trade working throughout East London. She has published twenty sagas, including the popular WW2 RATION BOOK, which like all her books is set in East London. Jean has also written her autobiography A Child of the East End, about growing up in post-war Stepney and Wapping. Jean is an official Women’s institute speaker and a regular contributor to library events, book festivals and author panels throughout North and Southeast London and Essex.  She is also a member and current Chair of the Romantic Novelists Association and is currently working on a new four book WW2 East London series.

Website:   http://jeanfullerton.com/

Facebook:  https://bit.ly/3sjifVL

X (formally Twitter):   JeanFullerton_

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jean_fullerton/

Amazon: Jean’s Amazon Page https://amzn.to/3GSWMam

OUT TOMORROW JULY 4TH

Felicity’s War buy link:  https://amzn.to/3UIcWvU

Welcome to Lorna’s Command Centre, Jean . Thank you very much for agreeing to be my seventh “In Conversation” guest interviewee.

Would you like to share your early life and influences? I wonder, did you read a lot as a child?

All the time. From about the age of seven or eight I was never without a book tucked under my pillow. I’d have to give my parents credit for that as we always had books in the house and each Saturday my dad and I would walk to Bancroft Road Library in Mile End. I would rummage around in the children’s section while he went into the adults. I’ve been a life-long reader ever since. 

Do you have a favourite childhood book? Do you still have it?

I was drawn to romance from the start, so Heidi was my favourite as her relationship with Peter was central to the story. Sadly, I don’t have my copy anymore, but I have bought it for my grandchildren.

I too loved reading Heidi as a child. It was next to The Secret Garden on my bedside bookshelves for many years. You and I are very close in age and I so much enjoyed your A Child of the East End. It was one of those books I didn’t want to finish. Despite growing up in a rural environment in North Lincolnshire there was so much I recognised and a lot of the memories that surfaced while reading made me smile.

 

What are you reading now?

I’m just about to start Andrew Taylor’s The Shadows of London, which is the sixth in his James Marwood & Cat Lovett series then I’ll be waiting for the release of the next book A Divine Fury in June which is the next instalment of DV Bishop’s Cesare Aldo series. I’d also recommend SG MacLean’s Damian Seeker series set in Cromwell’s England.   

You’ve confirmed you’re an avid reader. Do you have a favourite author?

Not as such as I’m happy to read anything that is well written with a pacy story. I do, however, favour historical novels over contemporary ones and I tend to read historical crime as I don’t write it, so enjoy it purely as a reader.  

How would you describe your writing process? I write a hurried first draft chronologically and then return to edit in depth. Is that a route you would take?

Like you I write the first draft chronologically adding in as much detail as I can on the first run then once I know what the story actually is, I go back and edit out the dead ends and add in further layers of research or foretelling.    

Do you have any specific writing ritual(s) you would like to share with us?

Not a ritual as such but I do like to write in my own office as it set up ergonomically to help my back and shoulders.  I also have all my research books on the shelves next to me and on a little caddy alongside plus a month-by-month calendar on a clip board with the plot outline on. None of my books span a time frame longer than 7-8 month so its easy to keep track on a calendar.  however, I do write on trains and planes when I’m traveling and as a cruise speaker, I take the opportunity of sailing on the seven seas without Wi-Fi to write on my laptop.  

I love the idea of having a caddy at your side. That’s such a good idea.

Are you able to find time to write every day?

I don’t so much find time as make time each day. I find it easier to keep my head in the story by writing at least 500 words each day. Of course, sometimes this is impossible, but I try not to let more than 2-3 days pass without writing something. After all, 100k words don’t write themselves.

What is the most challenging aspect of writing for you?

The first 30k words of a new book especially if it the first book in a series as I have to develop the world my characters inhabit and set up all the characters who will feature in the following books.    

You’ve written several series – The East End Ration Book, The East London Nurses, the Stepney Girls and The Nolan Family.  

Do you have a favourite character/family in your books?

I have both. Patrick Nolan from my Victoria series. Although a teenager when we meet him in No Cure for Love is the hero through the series. And I love the Brogans in my Ration Book series as they are so much an echo of my family when I was growing up in East London. I felt quite bereft when I finally said goodbye to them in Ration Book Victory.  

At a book group talk recently I was asked about the themes in my writing and whether I had a message or messages I wanted to get across. Personally I write the book then notice the themes. I wonder, how would you respond to such a question?

Like all writers my books are a reflection of my beliefs, values and life experience so my books do have themes in them. Often themes are issues I feel passionate about such as women’s roles, class and equality but I don’t consciously start with a theme as I think that would just stifle the story. Also, readers of popular fiction want to read for enjoyment not to be lectured. If my books make a reader think ‘goodness, my grandmother must have had it really tough’ or ‘I’m glad we don’t treat mental illness like that anymore’ because of my stories then my job is done.    

What can we look forward to in your next book/series?

My next series is under wraps at the moment but my next book out is Felicity’s War, which is the third of the Stepney Girls East London WW2 series and is

Out tomorrow July 4th

How do you think you will evolve as an author in the next decade? For example, do you envisage writing in another genre?

I don’t envisage changing genres, but I would like to move decades say into the 1960s or 70s, both of which, I’m sad to say, are regarded as history in 2024. I would also continue to improve and develop my writing as the day you think you’ve cracked it is the day it all goes disastrously wrong. I’m afraid to say that imposter syndrome and fear of failure is always hovering close by no matter how many books you’ve written.    

Do you prefer to read in print or digital reader?

Either. I’m not fussed.

Do you listen to audiobooks?

I do while sunbathing on holiday.

What writing resources or communities do you recommend for new writers?

I’d recommend any author writing anything vaguely romantic to join the RNA. They can join as full members if they are traditionally or independently published or if they are neither then we have two ways they can join. The first is the New Writer’s Scheme which means that the member can send a manuscript in to be assessed by one of our published author readers plus many other benefits too numerous to list here. It’s aimed at authors who have already started a manuscript or have written a couple already. The other membership category is the Aspiring which offers some of the NWS benefit although not a manuscript appraisal. This entrance level is ideal for people dipping their toe into writing romantic fiction and who want to know more.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your life and work?

Writing the book is only one side of the story telling coin the other is having someone read the world and characters you’ve created. The greatest thrill for me, as a writer is to receive an email from a reader who has read one of my books and loved it as much as I do. Readers are the reason I write.     

Thank you so much, Jean. I really do hope you’ll find the time to write the next volume of your autobiography. I, for one, will be first in the queue to purchase it.