Ask the Author: Jennifer Ryan
Answered Questions (63)
Jennifer Ryan
Thank you so much, Helen. I loved writing it, and those brave, spirited characters are still with me. I would love to write a sequel, and hope to do so soon. My new book is also set in WW2, it's about a cooking contest and it's called THE KITCHEN FRONT. I hope you enjoy that one, too.
Jennifer Ryan
What a fabulous message, Norrine! Thank you so very much, and YES! I will indeed keep writing! I am actually right at this minute writing a new novel, which is coming out early 2020. I can't wait to share it with you. Let's keep in touch, and I'll keep you posted!
Jennifer Ryan
Thank you so much for your question, Shawna. I'm writing another book right at this moment--sitting here at my desk in the middle of chapter 23! It's going really well, such a captivating premise, although I've been told not to let on what it's about quite yet.
It's coming out in early 2021. So excited.
Thank you so much for your enthusiasm for Chilbury and Shilling Lane. Let's keep in touch and I can let you know more about the next book when we're about to launch.
Jennifer
It's coming out in early 2021. So excited.
Thank you so much for your enthusiasm for Chilbury and Shilling Lane. Let's keep in touch and I can let you know more about the next book when we're about to launch.
Jennifer
Jennifer Ryan
Schindler’s List is an immensely poignant movie, as is It’s a Wonderful Life, but I also love comedies, such as Some Like it Hot. Then there are situations where I love the book, adore the movie: Atonement, The Constant Gardener, Room with a View, Dangerous Liaisons, and The Age of Innocence.
Jennifer Ryan
THE SPIES OF SHILLING LANE is a tale of women in the war, in the London Blitz, and in the world of espionage. I loved writing THE CHILBURY LADIES' CHOIR, which is about five courageous women in a small town in the Second World War, but I felt a draw to write about a new character: the fearless Mrs. Braithwaite. She meets her opposite with the cowardly Mr. Norris, who reluctantly helps her find her missing daughter. But how will they deal with each other, the chaos of the Blitz, and the criminal underworld in which they find themselves?
Jennifer Ryan
I’d like to think that I’m most like Jo March: chaotic, a bit of a thinker, a bit of a tomboy, and rather stubborn. Or would I prefer to be Elizabeth Bennet: witty, clever, and fearless? In reality, I’m probably more like Clarissa Dalloway, continually replaying memories and harboring a complicated obsession with the meaning of life.
Jennifer Ryan
The Spies of Shilling Lane is coming out June 4th 2019. It tells the story of a woman who goes in search of her missing daughter in the London Blitz, only to find herself entangled in espionage plots and underground Nazi sympathizers.
It was great fun to write, and absolutely fascinating to research. You can find out more about it on my website: www.JenniferRyanAuthor.com
It was great fun to write, and absolutely fascinating to research. You can find out more about it on my website: www.JenniferRyanAuthor.com
Jennifer Ryan
I dearly loved Beatrix Potter. All those adorable bunnies saving the day, with sentences such as “Peter was most dreadfully frightened,” and some sparrows “implored him to exert himself.” Enid Blyton also wrote wonderful novels with brilliant heroes and vile baddies. I especially liked the horrid Gwendoline from the Malory Towers series.
Jennifer Ryan
My bookshelves are overflowing with books that I have loved, and to pick only one writer seems incredibly difficult. As a genre, however, I think that those beautifully-written British novels and plays from the 1920s and 30s, with their humor and clever sentences and imagery, really forged an impression on my own writing. Noel Coward, P.G. Wodehouse, Waugh, E.F. Benson, Munro, Forster, Katherine Mansfield, and the incredible Virginia Woolf all, I hope, made an everlasting impact.
Jennifer Ryan
What a great question! Edwina Paltry was inspired by a story from my grandmother. She told me that because war was hectic, horrifying, and sometimes deadly, people often began to take morals and the law into their own hands, especially to make a little extra money. The police was far smaller than usual as all the young men had gone to fight, and with all the bombs and chaos, no one was watching what was going on.
My grandmother's pregnant neighbor made use of this. She needed a boy (I don't know the details about why) and promised money to a shady midwife if she could swap her baby for a boy should it be a girl. My grandmother didn't know the details, but her mother told her that the babies had indeed been swapped.
It's a remarkable story, and I wanted to explore it in the context of a story. I loved writing her letters to Clara. She has such a bold, self-serving voice, and I gave her a knack for metaphor to give her extra flavor.
Thanks for your question. I'm so thrilled that you loved the book.
My grandmother's pregnant neighbor made use of this. She needed a boy (I don't know the details about why) and promised money to a shady midwife if she could swap her baby for a boy should it be a girl. My grandmother didn't know the details, but her mother told her that the babies had indeed been swapped.
It's a remarkable story, and I wanted to explore it in the context of a story. I loved writing her letters to Clara. She has such a bold, self-serving voice, and I gave her a knack for metaphor to give her extra flavor.
Thanks for your question. I'm so thrilled that you loved the book.
Jennifer Ryan
I'm so thrilled that you enjoyed it, Diane, and wonderful to know that you'd like a sequel. I have some great ideas for the ladies; the Second World War was such an exhilarating and harrowing rollercoaster for many women in Britain, and it's very special to be able to tell their stories.
I'm giving away a free eBook on my website at the moment, the story about Miss Paltry, so do please sign up and have it delivered to your email.
My website is: www.JenniferRyanAuthor.com
Thank you so much for getting in touch, and I'll let you know about my next book very soon.
I'm giving away a free eBook on my website at the moment, the story about Miss Paltry, so do please sign up and have it delivered to your email.
My website is: www.JenniferRyanAuthor.com
Thank you so much for getting in touch, and I'll let you know about my next book very soon.
Jennifer Ryan
My website is www.JenniferRyanAuthor.com
I'm currently giving away a free eBook when you join my mailing list. It's called Miss Paltry's Baby Swap, and is a short story that I wrote before embarking on The Chilbury Ladies' Choir. It's a great page-turner, and might give Chilbury fans some idea of how this character came into being.
Thank you so much for getting in touch!
I'm currently giving away a free eBook when you join my mailing list. It's called Miss Paltry's Baby Swap, and is a short story that I wrote before embarking on The Chilbury Ladies' Choir. It's a great page-turner, and might give Chilbury fans some idea of how this character came into being.
Thank you so much for getting in touch!
Jennifer Ryan
That's so wonderful to hear! Thank you for getting in touch!
I've just finished writing a new book, The Spies of Shilling Lane, which is coming out in June 2019. It's about a woman who goes to London in the height of the Blitz to see her estranged daughter, only to find her missing. It's a jaunty, adventurous novel, full of spirit, humor, and a big heart. I hope that you'll love it.
Did you look at my website? It has more details about it, plus a lot more. It would be lovely to stay in touch!
Thank you again, and look forward to hearing what you think of The Spies of Shilling Lane!
Warmest wishes,
Jennifer
I've just finished writing a new book, The Spies of Shilling Lane, which is coming out in June 2019. It's about a woman who goes to London in the height of the Blitz to see her estranged daughter, only to find her missing. It's a jaunty, adventurous novel, full of spirit, humor, and a big heart. I hope that you'll love it.
Did you look at my website? It has more details about it, plus a lot more. It would be lovely to stay in touch!
Thank you again, and look forward to hearing what you think of The Spies of Shilling Lane!
Warmest wishes,
Jennifer
Jennifer Ryan
Love your question! Yes, I've heard from a number of readers who were inspired to join a choir, and more still who had once been in a choir and decided to look around for one close to where they live. This has been one of the most thrilling things for me. I love singing myself, and singing in a choir is better still.
Well done for being inspired! I hope you and your choir fill the world with song!
Well done for being inspired! I hope you and your choir fill the world with song!
Jennifer Ryan
For me it is the way the women change through the war, becoming more brave and courageously taking on the jobs and roles of men, finally challenging the men and their own status within the community.
Jennifer Ryan
I'm thinking of writing one next, so I'll keep you posted! Thank you so much for your question. I'm delighted that you enjoyed those brave and spirited ladies!
Jennifer Ryan
Thank you, Pat! The production company behind Downton Abbey have an option to make a series of Chilbury, but I'm not sure whether it's in production yet. Now I would love to write the screenplay, but I really don't know a thing about doing such a thing, so I'm hoping they'll find a professional screenwriter. Meanwhile, I'm busy writing another book, which is what I love doing most. I'll let you know more about it closer to the time.
Jennifer Ryan
Thank you so very much, Carrie! I'm thrilled that you liked the book. And that's wonderful that you found it a learning read. Which character did you like the best?
Jennifer Ryan
Virginia Woolf, without any doubt. My favorite book has to be Mrs. Dalloway. It's such a mesmerizing and lyrical piece of art. What a wonderful question.
Jennifer Ryan
Brilliant question, thanks Curt! A lot of my ideas for CHILBURY came directly from my Grandmother's stories about the war in Kent, and others from memoirs, journals, and letters I read from the era. Such a fascinating time with so many controversial things going on!
Thank you so much for your question.
Thank you so much for your question.
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