Page 53 - Novelist Post – J.D. Barker and more

the spiritual world. I have drawn on events/places/ characters that stand out in my life and the rest is fu- elled by my imagination. A few of these stores have been published in other anthologies including The Caradon Hill Heritage Project and Help4Heroes.
You began your serious writing journey after moving to Cornwall — can you share what it was about that place or that moment in life that unlocked your creativity?
I needed a purpose when my husband and I
moved to Cornwall. Initially I had a burning desire to write, what turned out to be, my memoir No
One Comes Close. I spotted a poster in our local post office for a 6 week creative writing course in Liskeard called Finding Your Voice and signed up hoping this would unlock the door. It did. I found this course incredibly inspirational, not only for my ‘magnum opus’ but it put me firmly on the path to writing prolifically. The tutor Jenny Alexander was amazing and I took several writing courses with her. I attended many writing workshops while I lived in Cornwall. Another thing that helped was the critique writing group I joined. The feedback for my memoir was immensely helpful and I learned a lot.
In Losing the Will, Jess faces a lot of unexpected hurdles. What message were you hoping to share about resilience and starting over?
I have always admired strong women. My mother was a prime example. Nothing fazed her. When I was a baby, during rationing, she went knocking on doors begging for coal to keep me warm.
You’ve mentioned dreams of writing a historical novel set during the English Civil War — what draws you to that period, and how is the project coming along?
The fact that Charles I was executed on my birt- hday, exactly 300 years before I was born, was my main starting point. The Civil War has always fasci- nated me as I have lived in Ely, (Oliver Cromwell’s home) and in Cornwall near where some of the battles took place. The project is very slowly taking shape owing to the research involved.
I’ve always been fascinated with history and the spiritual world.
– J. A. Newman
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