This week, I'm thrilled to welcome Jessica Sturman-Coombs, a lovely lady whose debut novel Poker Face has been very well received:
Hello Jess, and welcome. Firstly, tell us a little about yourself, and what drives you to write.
I have a background in law and have worked in law firms since I was eighteen. I had many jobs before my first legal role, all varied and interesting! I have also carried out quite a bit of voluntary work co-delivering courses on parenting, confidence and self esteem and domestic abuse. I have always written, it was the one thing I was good at in school. I am a big thinker and I analyse a lot too. I used to write as a teen as a means of rationalising difficult situations and experiences. I started writing poems after the birth of my first child and then went back to writing after the birth of my second child. That was when I started to write children’s books. I later moved on to YA and crossover novels. I have only really written ‘with intent’ for the last four years. I write because I love it. If I had a choice between, well, most anything really and writing, I’d write. I suppose, if I’m honest, I don’t just want to write but I need to write and I’ve found it to be the most liberating experience.
You have been busy! A varied career and still managing to write while bringing up children - I take my hat off to you! Tell us, do you have a particular role model?
Yes just about anyone who has had their work indie published. It is a rollercoaster ride, a compulsive one, and there are plenty of highs and lows, plenty of launching the laptop, banging your head on the breakfast bar and lonely contemplation. You’re on your own with all of the decisions and it can be quite daunting sometimes. When I hop over to Twitter and see all the other indie authors, sharing experiences, offering support, information and friendship I look up to them. They show me that it can be done and it is being done. As a result of people refusing to see traditional publishing as their only option, there is a whole other world out there of fantastic storytelling.
I agree, there's a great range of stories out there as a result of people taking the plunge and diving in, and it's brilliant that so many other indie authors willing to offer support and advice. On a more personal note; what's your proudest achievement?
Do I really have to pick one because I might end up getting into trouble? Of course, I must put the creation of child 1 and child 2 as a couple of my most proudest achievements! Little monkeys aside, I’d say the most obvious biggie would be seeing Poker Face in paperback. Seeing it in print, with an ISBN, a price tag, blurb and dedications was awesome. What’s funny is how amazing it is to have a copyright page! I was showing my copyright page off for AGES! People were more interested in the cover, which I must admit is gorge and was designed for me by one, Ivan Waldock, graphic designer and genuinely fab bloke.
I've no doubt you're very proud of all your 'babies'! But do you have any regrets in life?
Oooooh yeah just a few but the funny thing is, though I regret them, I wouldn’t change them. Doing so would no doubt change the path I am on now. I am very happy with my lot and I would do it all again if I had to...Pleeeeease say I don’t have to! I wasted too many years grieving for losses I couldn’t recover and sticking with things I definitely should have dropped sooner. Combined, that probably makes up for about 15 years of my life (what an absolute waste) and at the age of 35 it feels like a pretty big chunk to have gambled with. If I could change anything (and still keep things as they are now) I would have stood up for myself more, made some perfectly acceptable demands and not settled just because I was afraid of the alternative.
I think we're all guilty from time to time of flogging a dead horse, so long as you learn from it, no experience is really wasted. I have to ask this one - what's your secret ambition?
For my book to be made into a film! Surely the biggest high imaginable! Oh, hang on, I also want to be in it, then I want to produce it! I have some pretty high and unrealistic ambitions. What can I say, BIG imagination!
BIG imagination indeed! Where do you get your ideas from?
Dreams and nightmares mostly as well as some heavily manipulated personal experiences. I also have the ability to create whole chapters in my head out of pure fantasy. They are often so clear that I think I’ve already written them. That makes writing easier because when I sit down at the laptop I’m always ready and prepared to go, there’s never a struggle for inspiration.
In your debut novel 'Poker Face,' Ruby's quick wits and brashness make up for her lack of qualifications. In your opinion, is it better to be street smart than university educated?
I think street smart is a valuable asset, especially depending on where you live - it can literally be the difference between surviving and being taken out. I do believe a university education has it merits; the credentials to pursue a particular career, increase in prospects and access to the higher paid positions, but there are also benefits that aren’t always so obvious. I personally experienced a childhood and adolescence where I had to grow up fast and learn to look after myself. At 26, as a mature student, I graduated with an LLB law degree and doing so was a real turnaround for me. I was no longer the dropout, the one that was impossible to educate, the one everyone thought was trouble and going nowhere, fast. I showed a lot of other people what I was really capable of but, more importantly, I showed myself that I could do whatever I wanted to do. The only thing that stood in the way of that was me. It took a university education to undo some of the things that ‘real life or ‘street life’ had fooled me into believing. I wouldn’t change that, not even if it meant wiping my student loan. I wear my student loan with pride!
Well done you! Education one of the things no one can take away.
One last question: 'Poker Face' already has an impressive array of four and five star reviews - your writing has obviously struck a chord - is there anything new in the pipeline? Will we be hearing more from Ruby?
Definitely, to both questions. Ruby appears in three more books in the Poker Face series. All are written and are patiently waiting their turn on the Amazon bookshelf. I’m finding it very hard to hold back! I loved Ruby Palmer and the other Poker Face characters so much I was writing the second and third while still writing the first. The fourth just came to me after I thought I’d completed the series. There were too many other things the characters could experience to let them go so soon, and that’s how book four came to be born.
I have also just finished editing a romance that deals with teenage relationship abuse, an issue very close to my heart, which I do feel should be highlighted more. I hope that for some this book might just do that. Then there is my vampire trilogy, my sci-fi and my fantasy as well as lots of children’s books. They are all waiting for a little more of my time and attention. I can’t wait to start getting them out and about.
A very impressive list - I'm sure your fans cannot wait for all those new releases to hit the virtual shelves. Thanks so much for dropping by, and please keep in touch, I'm especially keen to learn how your book signing session at Waterstones in Hatfield works out - though I'm sure it'll be a great success.
Thank you so very much for having me and guess what, at the Waterstones Hatfield signing event - by the way - everyone's invited - I’m even going to approach people and talk to them! If you knew how awkward I get around strangers you would probably roll your eyes right now and say “Yeah right!”
Not me Jess, I've every confidence in you, and your writing. I just know you're going to be a brilliant success.
Jess will be signing copies of her debut novel Poker Face at Waterstones, Hatfield on the 23rd June, so put that date in your diary! Jessica Sturman-Coombs Website or follow Jess on Twitter.
I have a background in law and have worked in law firms since I was eighteen. I had many jobs before my first legal role, all varied and interesting! I have also carried out quite a bit of voluntary work co-delivering courses on parenting, confidence and self esteem and domestic abuse. I have always written, it was the one thing I was good at in school. I am a big thinker and I analyse a lot too. I used to write as a teen as a means of rationalising difficult situations and experiences. I started writing poems after the birth of my first child and then went back to writing after the birth of my second child. That was when I started to write children’s books. I later moved on to YA and crossover novels. I have only really written ‘with intent’ for the last four years. I write because I love it. If I had a choice between, well, most anything really and writing, I’d write. I suppose, if I’m honest, I don’t just want to write but I need to write and I’ve found it to be the most liberating experience.
You have been busy! A varied career and still managing to write while bringing up children - I take my hat off to you! Tell us, do you have a particular role model?
Yes just about anyone who has had their work indie published. It is a rollercoaster ride, a compulsive one, and there are plenty of highs and lows, plenty of launching the laptop, banging your head on the breakfast bar and lonely contemplation. You’re on your own with all of the decisions and it can be quite daunting sometimes. When I hop over to Twitter and see all the other indie authors, sharing experiences, offering support, information and friendship I look up to them. They show me that it can be done and it is being done. As a result of people refusing to see traditional publishing as their only option, there is a whole other world out there of fantastic storytelling.
I agree, there's a great range of stories out there as a result of people taking the plunge and diving in, and it's brilliant that so many other indie authors willing to offer support and advice. On a more personal note; what's your proudest achievement?
Do I really have to pick one because I might end up getting into trouble? Of course, I must put the creation of child 1 and child 2 as a couple of my most proudest achievements! Little monkeys aside, I’d say the most obvious biggie would be seeing Poker Face in paperback. Seeing it in print, with an ISBN, a price tag, blurb and dedications was awesome. What’s funny is how amazing it is to have a copyright page! I was showing my copyright page off for AGES! People were more interested in the cover, which I must admit is gorge and was designed for me by one, Ivan Waldock, graphic designer and genuinely fab bloke.
I've no doubt you're very proud of all your 'babies'! But do you have any regrets in life?
Oooooh yeah just a few but the funny thing is, though I regret them, I wouldn’t change them. Doing so would no doubt change the path I am on now. I am very happy with my lot and I would do it all again if I had to...Pleeeeease say I don’t have to! I wasted too many years grieving for losses I couldn’t recover and sticking with things I definitely should have dropped sooner. Combined, that probably makes up for about 15 years of my life (what an absolute waste) and at the age of 35 it feels like a pretty big chunk to have gambled with. If I could change anything (and still keep things as they are now) I would have stood up for myself more, made some perfectly acceptable demands and not settled just because I was afraid of the alternative.
I think we're all guilty from time to time of flogging a dead horse, so long as you learn from it, no experience is really wasted. I have to ask this one - what's your secret ambition?
For my book to be made into a film! Surely the biggest high imaginable! Oh, hang on, I also want to be in it, then I want to produce it! I have some pretty high and unrealistic ambitions. What can I say, BIG imagination!
BIG imagination indeed! Where do you get your ideas from?
Dreams and nightmares mostly as well as some heavily manipulated personal experiences. I also have the ability to create whole chapters in my head out of pure fantasy. They are often so clear that I think I’ve already written them. That makes writing easier because when I sit down at the laptop I’m always ready and prepared to go, there’s never a struggle for inspiration.
In your debut novel 'Poker Face,' Ruby's quick wits and brashness make up for her lack of qualifications. In your opinion, is it better to be street smart than university educated?
I think street smart is a valuable asset, especially depending on where you live - it can literally be the difference between surviving and being taken out. I do believe a university education has it merits; the credentials to pursue a particular career, increase in prospects and access to the higher paid positions, but there are also benefits that aren’t always so obvious. I personally experienced a childhood and adolescence where I had to grow up fast and learn to look after myself. At 26, as a mature student, I graduated with an LLB law degree and doing so was a real turnaround for me. I was no longer the dropout, the one that was impossible to educate, the one everyone thought was trouble and going nowhere, fast. I showed a lot of other people what I was really capable of but, more importantly, I showed myself that I could do whatever I wanted to do. The only thing that stood in the way of that was me. It took a university education to undo some of the things that ‘real life or ‘street life’ had fooled me into believing. I wouldn’t change that, not even if it meant wiping my student loan. I wear my student loan with pride!
Well done you! Education one of the things no one can take away.
One last question: 'Poker Face' already has an impressive array of four and five star reviews - your writing has obviously struck a chord - is there anything new in the pipeline? Will we be hearing more from Ruby?
Definitely, to both questions. Ruby appears in three more books in the Poker Face series. All are written and are patiently waiting their turn on the Amazon bookshelf. I’m finding it very hard to hold back! I loved Ruby Palmer and the other Poker Face characters so much I was writing the second and third while still writing the first. The fourth just came to me after I thought I’d completed the series. There were too many other things the characters could experience to let them go so soon, and that’s how book four came to be born.
I have also just finished editing a romance that deals with teenage relationship abuse, an issue very close to my heart, which I do feel should be highlighted more. I hope that for some this book might just do that. Then there is my vampire trilogy, my sci-fi and my fantasy as well as lots of children’s books. They are all waiting for a little more of my time and attention. I can’t wait to start getting them out and about.
A very impressive list - I'm sure your fans cannot wait for all those new releases to hit the virtual shelves. Thanks so much for dropping by, and please keep in touch, I'm especially keen to learn how your book signing session at Waterstones in Hatfield works out - though I'm sure it'll be a great success.
Thank you so very much for having me and guess what, at the Waterstones Hatfield signing event - by the way - everyone's invited - I’m even going to approach people and talk to them! If you knew how awkward I get around strangers you would probably roll your eyes right now and say “Yeah right!”
Not me Jess, I've every confidence in you, and your writing. I just know you're going to be a brilliant success.
Jess will be signing copies of her debut novel Poker Face at Waterstones, Hatfield on the 23rd June, so put that date in your diary! Jessica Sturman-Coombs Website or follow Jess on Twitter.
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Poker Face is Jess's debut novel, and has already attracted some great four and five star reviews. Click here to sample at Amazon.com Click here to sample at Amazon.co.uk |
Author Jess Sturman-Coombs
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