It's Friday - What Can Possibly Go Wrong?
A weekly newsletter from Jodi Taylor
This week we have:
Author Interview and FREE EXTRACT from The Time Travelling Estate Agent by Dale Bradford
A Reader’s Question: How involved do you get in the cover design process?
Jodi Taylor Book Recommendation: The Bear at Midnight by Lexie Conyngham 💙📚
The Book of the Month is Dark Light
Signed Books - yay, these are now available again and you can also pre-order Killing Time and Bad Moon in paperback
User Guide for Jodi Taylor Readers on Bluesky It's a great new, ad-free social media platform.
There’s plenty to read this week and you can see everything new on the blog too. CLICK HERE for the blog.
Fancy yourself a sci-fi storyteller? Here's your chance to shine.
David Sands, the much-loved character from The Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor, becomes a science fiction author. Now it’s your turn to step into his shoes.
What inspired you to embark on a writing career, and how did your journey as an author begin?
I was totally captivated by HG Wells’ The Time Machine when I was a boy. I have always wanted to write a time travel story of my own so, in December 2019, I took four weeks’ holiday to make a start on it. The introduction of lockdown a couple of months later allowed me to spend more time on it than I was expecting, and I fully developed the story that summer. Returning to the day job – I have been ‘writing’ for over 30 years, as a journalist and B2B magazine editor – slowed my progress, but I finally completed The Time-Travelling Estate Agent in 2024.
Can you describe your writing process? Do you follow a structured outline, or is your approach more organic?
I adopted the same approach to writing a novel as I did to writing a lengthy magazine article. Once the ‘start’ and ‘end’ points have been determined, it’s a matter of creating the steps necessary to get from one to the other. The spaces between these stepping stones can then be filled in and fleshed out during the writing process. I am aware that some authors are able to just start writing and see where it takes them, but I need a structure. Having said that, I would not like to plan every aspect of a novel in advance, as characters, and indeed subplots, benefit from having the space to develop and grow during the writing process.
Which authors or books have significantly influenced your writing style and thematic choices?
I have already mentioned HG Wells, who kickstarted not just my interest in time travel but the whole sci-fi subgenre, but the authors I return to the most are Philip K Dick, John Wyndham, and Douglas Adams. I think I own every title they have written, either in paperback or audiobook, with quite a few in both formats. Philip K Dick had an incredible imagination, John Wyndham’s writing is so effortlessly elegant, and Douglas Adams still brings a smile to my face. If I had to choose just one book from any of that trio it would be Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham. He is best known for The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos but, to me, Trouble with Lichen is his masterpiece. It was published in 1960 but the subject matter, and the way the story plays out, could be contemporary. I re-read it, or listen to it, every couple of years. If someone was to say they could detect the influence of those three authors in my writing I would be absolutely delighted.
Mary Anne Armstrong asks: How involved do you get in the cover design process?
Do you have a question for Jodi? Click on the comment button below
CLICK HERE to watch more Readers’ Questions videos
Jodi Taylor Book Recommendation: The Bear at Midnight by Lexie Conyngham 💙📚
Dive into a world of intricate plots and vivid characters with unexpected twists! Find it here: https://amzn.to/3CaEhkZ 💙📚
Have you enjoyed this book too?
The Book of the Month for April is Long Shadows
We’re delighted to announce that signed copies of all Jodi’s books are available through the new website.
Signed stock is held for most backlist titles and you can pre-order new titles to collect at events or to be shipped to you when signed. Jodi usually signs books twice a year so there may be a delay in receiving your order. However new releases are usually shipped at least a week before publication date. If you need a book for a specific date please check if stock is available when ordering.
NEW Titles for 2025 are now available for Pre-order. Click on the title to order.
User Guide for Jodi Taylor Readers on Bluesky
If you're a fan of Jodi Taylor and her books, this guide will help you navigate Bluesky, access the Jodi Taylor feed, and get started with the Bluesky Starter Pack.
I can't remember the book telling us that America imploded on itself, and is off limits to the outside world...I suddenly feel like I am living this in real time...will there be light at the end of the tunnel, at least in future books? I'm grasping at straws here.
Dear Jodi and Hazel,
I adore “It’s Friday – What Can Possibly Go Wrong?” I treat this newsletter the way I treat the Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times—reverently, joyfully, and preferably while in pajamas with a cat (or two) strategically draped across my lap like judgmental scarves. It’s not just a newsletter—it’s a weekly cultural moment, a perfectly brewed cup of literary espresso with a cheeky biscuit on the side.
This week’s edition had me grinning like a woman who’s just discovered her favorite author also happens to understand the dark, delicious chaos of being both wildly creative and slightly unhinged. (My people!) The Sands of Time Writing Competition? Yes, I fancy myself a sci-fi storyteller—though mostly in fuzzy socks, muttering plot twists to myself in the kitchen. And you gave me permission! David Sands as a sci-fi author? Be still my time-traveling heart.
The author interview, the free extract, the cover design peek—it’s like a mini literary festival that landed in my inbox and asked for tea. The Bear at Midnight has been ceremoniously added to my “TBR Tower of Pisa,” Dark Light is now on my nightstand, and the news about signed books nearly made me spill my fourth cup of coffee (which would’ve caused a diplomatic incident with the cat).
Also, I’ve peeked at Bluesky, which feels like Twitter after it had a nap, some therapy, and a strong gin and tonic. I might even join.
Please never stop. You are the glitter on my bookmark, the biscotti to my brew, and the lovely kind of chaos that makes me snort-laugh into my sleeve while pretending to be Very Serious about literature.
With affection and admiration,
Gloria
(Writer. Reader. Cat blanket.)