Truth inspires Jen’s fiction
Last updated at 09:15, Thursday, 05 February 2009
HAVING spent her entire career surrounded by books, it’s no surprise that Prudhoe author Jen Black has gone on to create them herself.
Inspired by the people and places she surrounds herself with, it’s clear Jen (64) enjoys the research and information gathering which goes into each of her historical romances.
And it was her urge to out the truth behind a play created in the early 1600s by William Shakespeare, which initially inspired her to put pen to paper, with her first effort taking 17 years to fully complete.
After spending her childhood in Durham’s Framwellgate Moor and Stockton, her first job after leaving school at 16 with chemical company ICI in Billingham, immediately thrust her into the world of information and research.
She explained: “I suppose my whole career has really been based around books, or rather, I have been surrounded by them.
“At the age of 17 I started work as a lowly clerk at ICI in Billingham. I worked in the research department where they had a vast research library, which I would spend hours in, just trawling through huge amounts of information.”
A career move to Yarm public library followed before Jen’s first marriage, which saw her move to Newcastle and settle in Whickham.
“After my first marriage I became a housewife. I thought that was what I wanted at the time, but I soon found myself getting terribly bored and spending hours researching different subjects,” said Jen.
“I learned that you could find the answer to anything if you were just willing to put the hours into the research, and it was at that point that I first began fiddling around with a little bit of writing now and again.”
Although Jen admits that the skills didn’t quite come naturally to her at first, she decided to further her education as a mature student in her early 30s.
“I had all this time on my hands, and I thought to myself one day, ‘why don’t I go back to university and do a degree?’ ”
A-levels at Gateshead College followed before Jen went on to Newcastle University to study English and history.
Around the same time, Jen was lucky enough to meet author of historical fiction, Dorothy Dunnet, whose work she had begun following some years earlier.
Jen said: “It was during a talk she was giving at the college library that she mentioned the fourth book in a series of hers had been delayed because a lady from America had written her 68 letters, and she had spent such a lot of her time replying to them.
“Being a big fan at the time I suggested Dorothy should forward the letters to me so I could reply to them.
“For many years after that I kept in touch with the lady by letter and we discussed things like writing techniques. We were both aspiring writers ourselves and I learned an awful lot from it.”
And it was during her studies Jen began delving into the history of Shakespeare’s plays.
“I discovered that, contrary to how he is portrayed by Shakespeare, Macbeth was actually a very good king who reigned for many years,” Jen said.
“I felt within myself that something should be done to put that right.”
Cue the beginnings of Jen’s first novel, Banners of Alba, set in medieval Scotland. The story was eventually published on demand and as an e-book by an American company in 2005, and was followed by a sequel entitled Dark Pool in 2006.
During the intervening time her first marriage came to an end.
“It was a time of big changes, but very liberating,” said Jen.
While she had been carrying out her early experiments with writing, she had also been working to further her career.
Her next move saw her working with young people as part of a Government-led youth training scheme.
Jen said: “I was based in North Tyneside, working for the Manpower Services Commission, helping teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 to get into work after leaving school.
“It was a very interesting job which was a bit of a departure from the norm for me, but I enjoyed the challenge. Some of the young people could barely read, so it really was a challenge for them too.”
But it was her return to Gateshead College – this time as college librarian – which changed Jen’s life.
“I loved the job at Gateshead. But there was a lot of changes to education taking place when I first took it on in the 1980s,” Jen explained.
“No two years were the same. And it’s where I met my husband, William Black, who was a lecturer in automobile engineering.”
After visiting the lib-rary to request that new books be stocked for his students, William, now 63, and Jen got to know each other.
“He was one of hundreds of lecturers but we just hit it off and ended up getting married in 1995.”
Jen continued to manage the college library for 20 years until she retired in 2005. Then she used her new-found free time to plough straight into book number three.
Far After Gold tells the tale of a princess from the Hebrides who is kidnapped, and turns up in the slave markets of Dublin where she is purchased by a handsome pagan Viking.
When he takes her back to Scotland, escape is never far from the princess’s mind. Her only problems are where to run and how to stop herself falling in love with him.
This is Jen’s first “proper” novel which is due for general release today.
After stumbling across UK publisher Quaestor 2000, which specialises in historical novels and scholarly legal works, Jen has begun the journey to becoming a household name.
And it seems there’s no stopping her. Jen already has several other works in progress.
She said: “It’s a very exciting time for me. It’s great that with Far After Gold people will be able to buy it straight from the shelf.
“I have started work on a few new ideas, which are based around local places. I am working on the tale of a heroine in Tudor times, set in Aydon Castle, Corbridge.”
Among Jen’s other ideas are a Regency romance based around the National Trust’s Gibside estate near Rowlands Gill, and a story set in Rothbury in the Victorian era.
First published at 15:18, Thursday, 29 January 2009
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
