Like Jane Austen, Jeremy was born in his father’s village. She enjoyed walking; he runs—even marathons. Writing runs in both their families.
Otherwise, their paths diverge. He is a city boy, with a Liverpool childhood and London his adopted home. Happily married, it was his wife who introduced him to Jane Austen—it was love at first read.
They have two grown-up children and one three-year-old grandson. Their son is into heavy metal, while their daughter writes for theatre and television.
His professional career involved developing new products for well-known household brands. He has long been fascinated by risk, whether in business or gambling. His biggest mistake, he says, was becoming a Lloyd’s underwriter.
The eventual result of his journey: writing Austenesque novels.
Hello Jeremy, welcome to BrandEducation! Where are you from, and where do you currently live?
I was born in an English country village, my father’s home spot, brought up in Liverpool (home of the Beatles, though I never met them), and I’ve lived all my working life in London, where I still live in retirement. Last 30 years in Notting Hill, for those who enjoyed the movie.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? (If you have any!)
Reading (fiction & non-fiction), running (though now I’m very slow), watching professional tennis, and challenging financial institutions (not fun exactly, but too often necessary).
Can you share a bit about your journey and how you got to where you are today?
Life is a journey only retrospect. In fact, it’s a series of accidents. But for the constraints of army leave, my mother would not have conceived when she did. So no me as me. Anyway, 50% chance I’d have been a girl. If I hadn’t seen a small ad, I would not have joined an Oxford college, and if the ad had not made it clear that Latin unseens were not required, I would not have read P.P.E. nor become fascinated by statistics. If my wife and I hadn’t applied for jobs with the same employer, we would never have fallen in love, and I might never have discovered Jane Austen. With neither Austen nor statistics, I wouldn’t be giving this answer in this way.
If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
Prose style fanatic.
What inspires you in your work and life?
Persistence. If something interests me, I go all out. Two examples: mastering the Austen style has taken me eight years; to train for marathons, my running average was 100 kilometres a week.
Share something that our audience might not know about you.
I never knew my father. He died of peritonitis in a military hospital in 1944 and is buried near Salerno, Italy. I once saw an old photo of him with my mother, and thought he was me until I checked my mother’s hairstyle more carefully. I think of him a lot.
How did you get started in writing?
As soon as I discovered I was good at writing essays at school (aged 12ish). I love mastering jargon: legal, financial, corporate. Meaning I can write it, spoof it, or turn it into language anyone can understand. All of which served me well in my job – for proposals, reports and especially ad copywriting. In my spare time, I wrote stories and started novels, five of which I actually completed. One nearly got published. Then came retirement and writing for Jane Austen…
What are you currently promoting or working on?
The 7th, 8th & 9th novels Jane Austen never wrote. Speculation’s on the market, Courtship & Court Martial is nearly ready to launch, The Widow & The Mistress is in the early stages of planning.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind Speculation and the story behind it?
Luckily, I didn’t read any Austen at school, so I could take her as I found her, not as teachers, examiners or literary critics would have me believe. I’d heard of her, and her most famous Pride & Prejudice. The title put me off: I assumed it was didactic and dull! That changed when I watched a TV serialization of Sense & Sensibility with my then fiancée, who was highly amused by my attempts to guess the ending. Then I read the book. It was love at first read. The other five soon followed, plus endless re-reads. Finally Penguin’s Lady Susan, The Watsons & Sanditon, and – though it took time – the eureka reaction to its opening sentence:
There are some great writers who wrote… nothing like enough to satisfy their admirers, and Jane Austen is certainly one of these. There would be more genuine rejoicing at the discovery of a complete, new novel by Jane Austen than [almost] any other literary discovery.
Are you working on any new projects or ideas that you’d like to share?
Mainly on The Widow & The Mistress. I want to push Jane Austen’s boundaries a little. The idea is that a young widow discovers that her husband kept a mistress. The two meet, and gradually come to realise that they have much in common. Mutual antipathy turns slowly into understanding, respect and finally friendship. I’m also thinking of reviving two of my unpublished novels.
What are your goals and aspirations moving forward?
That my wife and I die together in our own bed. Peacefully in our nineties. It almost worked for my paternal grandparents, though they spent their last few days in hospital.
Where can our listeners connect with you online?
Through my website austenesque.com.