When I begin to collect my thoughts about a new book sometimes there are areas where I simply don’t have the expertise to write convincingly. Take my current WIP set on an estuary town in south Cornwall. There are three families central to the plot, one of them owning a vineyard. Now I have absolutely no idea what happens between grape and bottle so professional guidance was definitely needed. Fortunately we have a local vineyard only a ten minute walk from home so it was easy to book an appointment for a tour where I could view the processes, make notes and ask questions.
Rewind to 2012 when I embarked on The Other Side of Morning – now released under the title Wicked Game. Rock musician Christian Rosetti was one of the central characters and part of the plot saw him on tour throughout Europe. Now I had absolutely no idea about music tours, but I knew someone who did.
Jane Risdon has been a long term social media friend. We came together through our joint love of music and I was aware of the time she spent in LA working with some of the most famous stars in the music business. Who better then to advise on how to write the scenes I needed for this book?
She took time with me, answered my questions and gave me a huge amount of information which gave me a broad view of what touring with a rock musician entailed. Jane’s expertise was invaluable and enabled me to send Christian off on a ‘virtual’ European tour safe in the knowledge I actually knew what I was talking about!
In 2017 Jane collaborated with fellow author Christina Jones to create her own rock star Scott in Only One Woman, a romantic novel set against the backdrop of the 1960s music scene.
Two women, one love story.
June 1968. Renza falls head over heels for heartthrob guitarist Scott. But after a romantic summer together they are torn apart when Renza’s family moves away.
December 1968. On the night she believes to be her last, Stella meets Scott at a local dance. He’s the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen and if this one night is all they have, she’ll take it.
As the final colourful year of the sixties dawns, the question is: can there be only one woman for Scott?
Thank you Jane for all the support you’ve given me since we met on Facebook. You’ve been an amazing friend…
JO LAMBERT BOOKS 