Sarah Jules: The Accidental Hipster

Sarah Jules holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Huddersfield, as well as a BA (Hons), and holds Qualified Teaching Status. She discovered that teaching wasn’t for her (I have a lot of empathy for this as I also wanted to be a teacher while I was getting my Associates), she judiciously searched the internet before stumbling across freelance writing and discovering her passion. Thus, Sarah Jules Writing Services was born.

Q: Who has been your biggest supporter(s) throughout your writing career?

A: I have been so incredibly lucky to have the support of all my family and friends. As soon as I told them that I was going to write a book (a good few years ago now), they were immediately on board, and so supportive. I kind of expected people to have a bit of a giggle, but that didn’t happen. In particular, my mum and my auntie have been unimaginably supportive – reading first drafts, offering suggestions, and bragging about my books to anybody who will listen. They’re both big thriller/horror readers, so I really appreciate their insight.

Inside of the horror community, I’ve found an amazing bunch of women who are consistently shouting about one another and raising each other up. Two women I’ve become particularly close to are Leigh Kenny and MJ Mars. Not only are they undeniable talents, but they are so supportive.

Q: Where do you draw inspiration from in your work?

A: Anywhere and everywhere. Places I’ve visited, people I meet, experiences I’ve had. Since I started writing, I find that I’m constantly asking, ‘what if…’ and exploring those ideas. I’m also a massive true crime fan, and I think this can spur a hell of a lot of ideas.

Q: What does it mean to you to be an author?

A: Being an author is a huge part of my identity now. I love being an indie author and being surrounded by so many talented people. I think a lot of people have misconceptions about what a ‘real’ author is, and indie authors are consistently blowing these misconceptions away. It’s a great time to be involved in the community because I think big changes are coming.

Q: What is your writing process like? Do you listen to certain music, snack, make loads of phone notes when inspiration randomly strikes, etc.?

A: My writing process is chaotic. I own my own writing services company (Sarah Jules Writing Services), so I spend all day sitting at my laptop working on other people’s projects. Often, the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is sit and work on my own books. I try to carve out a day a week to work on my own projects. On these days, I take myself to Starbucks. I find that I’m twice as productive if I’m not at home. There are no distractions.

But, before I even start writing, I plan out the book chapter by chapter. I’m that kind of annoying Type A person. I start with a general idea, and then begin to flesh it out in notepads (usually multiple notepads dotted around the house), and once I feel I have enough information, I get to work on the plot – which I do in a Word document. I then type the manuscript straight into that. And, eventually, I have a first draft.

Q: Is there a genre or subgenre that you want to explore that you haven’t yet? Conversely, are there any that you’ll never write?

A: I want to fully explore all facets of horror. So far, I’ve done psychological horror (Found You) and slasher (Don’t Lie). My third book, You Invited It In, is a paranormal horror. It is currently with beta readers and will be released in, hopefully, May. My next book is going to be a historical horror novel based on the coal mining industry. I am the proud daughter of a coal miner, and I plan to take advantage of my dad’s and grandad’s industry knowledge. I’m at the notebooks everywhere stage of this project at the moment.

I’m not sure that there’s a genre I would never write. I do have a 9/10 finished ‘chick lit’ manuscript sitting in the draw that I may, or may not, come back to at some point in the future.

Q: What has been the hardest part of your career as an author so far?

A: Marketing. I hate it! It’s not something that comes naturally to me at all. It’s the worst part of being an indie author. It’s a full-time job on its own. I know many other authors feel this way, so I’m not alone. In an ideal world, I would concentrate all my free time on writing books, but that’s just not feasible. You need to get your book in front of as many potential readers as possible, and that’s bloody difficult if you’re a one-woman-band.

Q: What do you consider to be your greatest strength and weakness as an author?

A: Wow, tricky question. I think my greatest strength is plotting stories. I LOVE planning out characters, making backstories, and then tying things together with the plot. This is my favourite part of writing books. My weakness is, maybe, my tendency towards procrastination. I’m a terrible procrastinator. I will always meet deadlines, but sometimes it’s an uphill battle to get there.

Q: Who is on your radar as someone you’d love to work with?

A: There are so many talented authors out there that I would love to work with. My idol has always been Stephen King, so I’ll be obvious and say that. I mean, that’s the dream, right?

Q: At some point in our lives, we’ve all heard the negative comments: “You’re not good enough.” “You’ll never make it.” “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.” “You don’t belong.” How do you move forward when faced with negativity?

A: It can be hard – especially when you’re exposed to negative reviews of your books. One of my favourite things to do when I receive a negative comment is to go back and read 1-star reviews of my favourite books. I just think that if somebody can hate something that I love so much, maybe other people’s opinions don’t carry as much weight as you might think.

Q: What advice would you give to women who are wanting to write, especially if it’s something others might perceive as “outside of the norm”?

A: Just do it. There will always be somebody who doesn’t like what you’re doing, even if you stick to more typically female-dominated genres, so you may as well write what you want to write. Writing in a genre you’re not passionate about will likely make you miserable, and writing a book is hard enough without placing more hurdles in your way. Reach out to other women authors, too. Join groups centred around your genre of choice and make connections. A support network of other authors is a god-send as an indie author.

Sarah’s third novel, You Invited It In, is set to release in May. It follows a fraudulent psychic who unleashes absolute havoc on an unsuspecting family. She is also working on editing and collecting a UK Indie Horror Anthology with both debut and established authors. Each story is based in a different part of the UK and the whole collection will have illustrations throughout. This collection is set to release in July! When not working on her writing projects, Sarah enjoys reading and listening to audiobooks; she highly recommends BETA by Sammy Scott as “it’s so beautifully written that I actually forgot, at times, I was listening to a book.”

To stay up to date on Sarah’s projects and other important news, follow her on Facebook and Instagram!