This week I am thrilled to be interviewing author J. A. Corrigan, who will be sharing with us details of her writing life, telling us all about her new book ‘The Nurse‘, which was released on 20th May 2021 and answering a few fun questions too. This post contains affiliate links.

J. A. Corrigan was born in Nottinghamshire. She studied in London, completing a BA (Hons) Humanities degree, majoring in Modern History and English Literature.

Travelling in Europe for several years, she taught in both Greece and Spain – countries and cultures she found fascinating. On return to the UK she gained a BSc (Physiotherapy), becoming a Chartered Physiotherapist. Her first suspense thriller, Falling Suns, was published in 2016.

She currently lives in Berkshire with her family. J. A. Corrigan also writes modern historical fiction under the pseudonym Jules Hayes.

I did! And from a very early age too. According to my primary school teacher I had an extremely vivid imagination. It was Mr Judson (my lovely teacher) who encouraged me to write my stories. I’d go home, scribble away, and hand it in to him at the end of the week. I loved the deadline he would give me – some things do change!

A few I’d say, but definitely Enid Blyton. I loved Elizabeth in The Naughtiest Girl collection – loved both her rebelliousness and vulnerability. I am, though, aware of the current controversy surrounding Blyton’s work.

I was a big fan of the Narnia books too – I really did live those stories. The first full novel I ever read was The Hobbit, which I adored. I think I was 7.

James Herbert is another writer I read as an older child. My love of horror books has stayed with me, although I read them very sporadically these days.

I’m unsure of a defining moment, but I think it was the feeling that if I didn’t start soon I never would. So I did start … initially signing up for the Open University Start to Write Fiction course and that was when I also learnt to use a computer too. It was all a massive learning curve!

I’m very much a panster, although I do have to have an ending in mind before I start, and a few key plot points/twists written down. Some twists and convolutions really don’t come to me until I’m well into writing the book. I’m big on thinking through the story inside my head and as I’ve gained more experience, I’m able to easily identify – and early on – what might be too difficult for me to pull off. For example, too many viewpoint characters or an overly complicated story structure.

I’m an early riser when I’m in the midst of writing a story. During 1st draft time I wake up around 5am and start writing after a few cups of coffee. I’ll be at my desk for 6am and will work until 4-5pm, taking a break to walk the dog! It’s rare for me to get any new words down in the evenings, but after 6pm I can edit words that are already down… if I have to. The evenings are for reading other author’s books, or reading non-fiction, which I love – biographies, history books etc.

The other lovely authors I meet!

For The Nurse I didn’t need to do a lot of research, as my background is medical, (I’m a qualified physiotherapist), although I did fact check everything (I hope!) with doctors and midwives. Locations – I will always, if possible, visit the locations I use in my books, or in the case of Chesterfield and Nottingham in The Nurse, revisit.

Difficult question, but I’d say approximately 2 years, although I was working on another manuscript at the same time.

Commerciality. The psychological thriller market is extremely competitive and so to a large extent it is over-populated/saturated; however, on the other hand, there is great reader demand for this genre. My editor told me that psych thriller readers devour these books in a matter of hours!

I do love writing in this genre, as it allows me to let my imagination run wild with the ‘what-ifs’ and the ‘whys’ – and these are extremely potent story drivers, particularly in this genre.

I really don’t know. Rose’s character name literally popped into my head immediately. I think deep in my subconscious I wanted Rose to have an Irish heritage (she does.)

I took the name, Theo, from a friend’s son!

A young Rose is sassy and clever, but also naïve and very much a product of her upbringing.

Theo is kind, but too impetuous. We meet him as an older man with more wisdom and patience, but I think a younger Theo was much more selfish, or rather self-centred. He’s mellowed with age…

Relieved, and eventually, proud.

“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning…”

Yes, I have a gorgeous, meek, well-behaved, although needy apricot-coloured cockapoo!

Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent
The Savage Instinct by MM DeLuca
The Dilemma by BA Paris
Stalin by Robert Service

I’d be an inmate inside Rose’s prison or maybe a nurse in the intensive care unit!

I think I’d like to meet Garp in the novel, The World According to Garp by John Irving.

“Where’s your glass of water?”

I would like to say a big thank you to J. A. Corrigan for sharing with us details of her writing life and for a wonderful interview.

Share your thoughts on our interview with J. A. Corrigan in the comment section below!