JP McLean
JP (Jo-Anne) MCLEAN writes urban fantasy and supernatural thrillers which have received honorable mentions from the Whistler Independent Book Awards and the Victoria Writers Society. Reviewers call her books addictive, smart, and fun. Her work includes endorsements from award-winning and best-selling authors, E.E. Holmes, Jennifer Manuel, Elinor Florence, Jennifer Anne Gordon, and Eileen Cook.
JP is a graduate of the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. She is a certified scuba diver, an avid gardener, and a voracious reader. Raised in Toronto, Ontario, JP lived in various parts of North America before settling on Denman Island on Canada’s west coast, where she now lives with her husband. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her cooking dishes that look nothing like the recipe photos or arguing with weeds in the garden.
Marina Raydun: Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of the supernatural genre but I'm hooked even reading the blurb of Blood Mark. Can you talk to us a little bit about the inspiration for it?
JP McLean: Blood Mark came to me in fits and starts. The first inkling of a story idea was inspired by the opening scene in Blind Spot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HnJbKP9JMQ It shows a bomb squad tech approaching an abandoned duffle bag in Times Square. Emerging from the bag is a woman covered in tattoos from the neck down. The woman doesn’t remember who she is or how she got the tattoos. I wondered what it might be like to have to live with those markings. That was the seed for Blood Mark, and I developed it from there.
MR: Is there anything you edited out of this novel?
JP: Yes. I haven’t yet written a book that doesn’t lose something in the editing process. At least this time it wasn’t a character. In Blood Mark, it was a complicated set of door locks that I’d woven into the narrative. My aim had been to find a clever way of locking a door so that each day a different combination of deadbolts would be locked or unlocked, causing an intruder to have to know which ones were engaged, or else risk accidentally locking the ones that had been left open. It turned out to be over-complicated, so I removed all references to it.
MR: What was the hardest scene to write?
JP: The climatic fight scene because so much pivoted on getting it right. Jane was in an impossible position: all odds were against her, and she had to pull it off or die. So, I needed to make sure each move she made was realistic and packed a punch.
MR: Walk us through your daily writing routine.
JP: My routine varies depending on whether I’m at the planning or the writing stage. When I’m in the planning stage, I’ll sporadically pick away at an outline all day long, adding ideas as they hit me. After I’ve got what I think is a workable outline, I’ll start writing.
When I’m in the writing stage, I’ll settle in each morning and aim to write one scene and the bridge to the next scene. At the end of the session, I’ll make notes to guide me the next day, and adjust the outline if the day’s writing has affected it.
Every day from then on, I start by rereading what I wrote the previous day, tweaking it as I go along, and then I’ll write the next scene and bridge. If I get stuck, I head out for a walk or pluck weeds from the garden. If it’s miserable outside, I might get creative in the kitchen, or tackle an indoor chore—anything to get my mind off the writing for a little while.
In the afternoons, I take care of publicity events like vlogs and podcasts, and marketing-related tasks, like designing social media graphics, writing blog posts, or newsletters.
MR: Have you read anything that made you feel differently about fiction?
JP: The Chrysalids by John Wyndham is the first book I remember reading that had characters with telepathic abilities. I was just a teenager when I read it, but I remember it was an ah-ha moment for me. Reading became fun, and not something I had to do for school. It’s the first book I “loved.” After that, I sought out books with paranormal or supernatural elements in them, and it’s become my favourite genre.
MR: What’s the best and worst book review you’ve ever received?
JP: The best book review was from a reader in the UK who’s read all my books and said in one of her reviews that she enjoyed my reading so much, she’d read my shopping list if I let her.
The worst book review came from a reader who found the book to be “a bit confusing in the beginning as it jumps from person to person that made following it a bit weird.” As much as I don’t like getting reviews like that, this one is helpful because it contains critical feedback. If I get more reviews that contain the same critique, I’ll take that into account in my future writing.
MR: If you had to do something differently as a child or a teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
JP: Travel more or learn a second language. I grew up in a family that didn’t travel outside of a small piece of the province I grew up in. And learning a second language would make travel easier and give me access to even more of a country’s culture and people. As an adult, I’ve travelled and lived in other countries, and it’s broadened my appreciation for different ways of thinking and doing. I wish I had even more experiences to draw on and infuse into my writing.
MR: What is your favorite genre to read?
JP: Supernatural or paranormal books, especially the ones that include thriller elements.
MR: What book do you wish you had written?
JP: Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen. She stuffed that book with more imaginative supe powers than I could ever have come up with.
MR: If you could cast your characters in a Hollywood adaption of your book, who would play your characters?
JP: I need to preface this answer with the caution that I’m not familiar with a lot of actors and haven’t been to a movie theatre in years (I live on a VERY small island). I scoured the internet for these names/faces:
Someone like Krysten Ritter, who I enjoyed in her role as Marvel’s Jessica Jones, would play Jane.
Sadie would be someone like Gabriella Wilde, who is both an actress and an Estee Lauder model.
Ethan would be someone like Dylan O’Brien, who starred in American Assassin.
Ryan Gosling would fit the role of Rick.
Read JP McLean’s work here.