Author Spotlight Saturday with Jody Medland

One thing I love about book blogging is that we meet great authors from all over the world. This week we talk with Jody Medland, author of The Moors (keep an eye out for our review) who is from the United Kingdom.

Welcome Jody to Genuine Jenn!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and why/what inspired you to write? When did you start writing?

Honestly, I feel like writing is the only thing I've always been able to. I put little effort into school, but it was always my writing that got attention. I had a natural flair and because it never felt like work, I did it consistently. If you do something every day, you're always likely to reach a noteworthy level, and because I have an innate passion for story, it's no real surprise I earn a living through writing now.

What was your inspiration for ‘The Moors’?

When I was younger I had a summer job delivering bouncy castles to people's homes. You had to drop them off in the morning and pick them up at night. There was one house in the middle of Exmoor, which is a vast expanse of deserted land in South West England, that was beautiful by day by incredibly intimidating at night. I became very aware that if anything went wrong, or if anybody/thing was to turn on me, I'd be in the middle of nowhere and nobody would be able to help. That married with a local fable about an "Exmoor beast" who is supposed to roam the land, and pretty soon the story started writing itself.

What three words would you use to best describe The Moors?

Gripping, mysterious, disturbing.

Can you tell us if you’re working on anything else at the moment?

SO much! I love to write, so I'm working on my next novel as well as my second screenplay, but I also run my own publishing company, Pen Works Media, so we're currently editing three books for release next year and there are more on the way. If anyone's interested in finding out more, it's probably worth joining our mailing list, which can be found at penworksmedia.co.uk.

What was your very first book that you wrote?

I have no idea what it was called, but I remember I was set a piece of homework when I was about 10-years-old and I came in the next day with a book that was fully written by hand. Once I started writing about the subject, which again eludes me now, I just couldn't stop. The teacher was amazed that I'd taken the project to that level and her reaction triggered something inside of me. I realised I was good at something, and that something had a lot of power. You are probably asking what was the first book I published though, and that was an e-book series I created, titled The Emerging Light Series. The series was made up of 100 short stories, some were written by me, but I also opened it up to receive submissions online. We sold around 5,000 copies and for a starter project, that wasn't too bad.

Other than your own, what are your favourite books?

The first book I ever loved was The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. Jon Ronson is an interesting author, and I'm deeply moved by anything Khaled Hosseini does. I also own a book that's so incredibly good, I won't alllow myself to finish it. That might sound odd, but in my view it's a true masterpiece, and I don't want to lose the feeling of reading it for the first time, which is a real testament to the author. It's called The House of Leaves and it's written by Mark Z. Danielewski.

When you are writing do you like to listen to music? What is on your playlist?

I do. All the time. It has to relate to what I'm working on. Often I listen to Glen Hansard, but I also like my film scores and instrumental music. Hans Zimmer has created some pretty great stuff, and I LOVE the Cinematic Orchestra. Very inspiring! I'm editing a young adult fantasy book at the moment, so the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is coming in quite handy, too.

Who is your favorite character in your books?

I don't have a specific favourite, but for some reason I seem to write great parts for women. It's a comment I hear all the time, and with actresses voicing their frustration at the number of two dimensional female characters there are out there, maybe I can use it to my advantage. I just think any character you write needs to be interesting and full of conflict, possessing good points as well as a fatal flaw. People love conflict, be it internal or external of the character, so I always try to make sure my characters, and my stories, are full of them.

Do you ever take characteristics or nuances from close friends or family when working on character development and if so has that friend or family member noticed and what was their response to it?

I think it's impossible not to. Sometimes I go out and look for inspiration - a movement, a tone, a characteristic that can become part of the DNA to one of my characters. More often than not though, somebody just says or does something around me, and I always make a note of potentially good material. A few people have noticed themselves in my characters, but I'm surprised not more people pull me up on it!

What’s your favourite treat?

Honestly, my treat is writing. I feel like everything else I do in life - earn money to pay the bills, do the day job, watch helplessly as societies all over the world are torn apart by greed - are things I must tolerate before, at last, I can sit in my office and write. I have viewed writing as some form of escape my whole life, so to me, it's a treat every time I get to do it, and I mean that wholeheartedly.

What’s your favourite place to read/write?

I've always been inexplicably productive when writing on transport. It seems that having movement around me helps be creative, and writing into a notebook offers so much more freedom than tapping away at a laptop. Having said that, I've just moved into a new house and, for the first time in my life, I have a dedicated office space. I can't tell you how nice it is to read and write in there.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I love Italy and I want to see more of it, but Santa Monica is a bit of a paradise for me. It just seems to have everything, the people are lovely and I find it a very spiritual and creative place to be. If that's not heaven then I don't know what is.

Purchase a copy of The Moors on Amazon.