Most authors have a favourite writing spot – but for Cwmbran’s John Jenner, inspiration comes from a library computer and the pressure of a ticking clock.
John doesn’t own his own computer, so every one of his novels has been written on the public PCs at Cwmbran Library and other local libraries. Far from seeing it as a limitation, he says it actually helps him focus.
“I don’t have the freedom of unlimited time and that concentrates the mind of creation quite sternly,” he told Cwmbran Life.
John’s love of storytelling goes back to childhood. “I am an actor/ singer/ songwriter so writing for other people is something I’ve been doing since I was in school. As a child, I drew cartoons for stories I’d created, so writing a novel was always in the pipeline.”
He began his first book after seeing a competition aimed at would‑be authors who hadn’t yet started. “Eight novels in, I’m still creating,” he said.
His current work‑in‑progress is called The Man Who Fell From the Sky. “It will be part romance, part mystery adventure.” He plans to pitch it to Mills & Boon once it’s complete.
Influences
John’s influences range from childhood classics to big‑screen favourites. “The first novel I ever read, aged 7 or 8, was The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – that certainly filled my imagination. I read novels with TV or film links: The Saint, James Bond, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Shakespeare, Le Carré, and Puzo.
“I enjoy Thomas Harris (author of Hannibal Lecter) because he has a surgical way of entering the mind of his characters and he takes his readers in with him.”
For anyone dreaming of writing their own book, John has simple advice: “The trick is to turn that blank page into something with words on it. Even if you have the bare bones of a story, start writing it.
“Many writers will find a flow, a way of writing a narrative beyond one single sentence. They may find, as I have done frequently, in creating one character, one scenario, that the story they are writing can start writing itself.”
John’s books are available on Amazon, but he’s exploring new ways to get them onto bookshop shelves.
From free-to-use library computer to finished novels, his journey as a writer proves that you don’t need fancy equipment to create – just imagination, discipline and a love of storytelling.
His four published novels include The Legacy of Joe Farr, Duggantown, Nate Roden, and Cat.