Q&A With Jenny Lecoat  

I have the honor of doing this Q&A with New York Times Bestselling author of historical fiction, Jenny Lecoat. Jenny also made the Der Spiegel List in Germany. Jenny has written The Girl From The Channel Islands, & her recent release Beyond Summerland! Jenny is also a screenwriter.  

Q: Jenny, would you please give a brief description of your books starting with your recent release Beyond Summerland?  

A: Beyond Summerland is set in Jersey, Channel Islands, just after the end of WW2. The islands had been occupied by the Nazis for five years, and after Liberation in 1945 there was a great deal of anger, trauma, and in many cases a desire for revenge, especially towards those who were seen as collaborators. Hardly anything has been written about that period, so it was exciting to explore it. My parents grew up during that Occupation, and members of my family were involved in resistance activity, so it’s a subject close to my heart. 

The Girl From the Channel Islands, my first book, is also set in Jersey, during the war years. It’s a fictionalized account of a true story, a young Jewish girl who became trapped on the island in 1940 and tells of her struggle to survive with the help of two people – a local woman who helped to shelter her, and a serving German officer who fell in love with her. 

Q: Do you choose a topic to write about and then do the research and plotting before writing your historical fiction novels? Or do you do the research first and then the idea comes to you that way? 

A: It’s a bit of both. Usually, the idea for the story comes first, but they tend to work in parallel. I always do a little research to see if a potential idea has “legs”, and whether the facts will get in the way of what I want 

to say; in historical fiction you can create and embroider personal stories, but I don’t believe you should ignore documented facts, or bend them to fit your fictional narrative (even though Hollywood screenwriters often do!) It’s all about walking the line between a good dramatic story and a respectable account of real events. Often research throws up new creative ideas, and that’s fun. 

Q: How long does it take you to research & write your historical fiction books? 

A: It varies. Beyond Summerland started life in a very different structural form, but as soon as other people read the manuscript, they pointed out a number of problems, and immediately I could see they were right.  Sometimes you really can’t see the wood for the trees. I effectively had to start again and tell the story a different way. It took ages, but hopefully you end up with a good book instead of a flawed one.  

Other times you’re halfway through a project when you come across research you hadn’t been aware of, then you must go back and make big changes. My current work is coming along quite quickly, but if I get a few drafts in and realize something’s not working, it’ll be back to the drawing board. Who said writing is rewriting? They weren’t kidding. 

Q: Since you’ve written screenplays for a ton of television & films, one of them being the popular British soap opera Eastenders, have you written screenplays for any of your books yet? The entertainment industry needs new content again! 

A: I haven’t so far, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t consider it. Depends on if anyone wants to pay me to do it! I worked in screen for many years, mainly TV, and it’s very different from publishing – much more stressful in many ways, because there’s so many more things to go wrong, and you’re 

always working to ridiculous deadlines. So, it would have to be something quite special to tempt me back. 

Q: Do you have any upcoming releases in 2025 & are you currently writing more books now?  

A: I’m currently working on another novel, another Jersey story, but this time set in the late 1970s, a period when I was still living on the island. So, the plot and main themes are, in some ways, quite different. But people don’t change, and my own narrative obsessions – human frailty, female friendships, our desire for freedom and fulfilment – don’t alter much either.  Plus, the Occupation casts such a long shadow in the islands even today, so there’s always a bit of Occupation in there somewhere! 

Q: Would you say that screenwriting has helped with writing your books, or has writing books helped make screenwriting easier? 

A: Screenwriting helped me hugely. I doubt I would have written books at all if I hadn’t had that experience. The screen teaches you about structure, about showing not telling, and how to pace a story. Also, you work with a lot of editors, many of whom have useful stuff to teach you. But perhaps the most important thing it gives you is discipline. If you’ve worked on a series where you must produce a beat sheet, an outline, a scene-by-scene and a full first draft in a matter of weeks, you quickly get used to organizing your work, breaking it down and managing the stages. You also get used to editing yourself, because after a while you can kind of guess what the notes might be. After that, starting the journey up that 90,000-word mountain for a novel doesn’t look quite so daunting.