This is Jane Kelly. The ghost in your machine.
I always try to capture the exact tone of the person I am interviewing, creating an authentic voice in the work and I have had a great deal of experience at doing this.
Between 1989 and 2004 as a leading interviewer on the Daily Mail newspaper in London, I travelled the world interviewing the famous and the curious. Among them: Jack Nicholson, Ginger Rogers, Scarlett Johansson, Demi Moore, Julie Andrews, Russell Crowe, George Clooney, Robert Vaughan, Howard Keel, Andy Williams, James Brown, Dame Diana Rigg, Vanessa Redgrave, and Sir Ian McKellen, and Take That, before anyone had heard of Robbie Williams.
Apart from celebrities of stage and screen, I sat down with many public figures; I shared a taxi with Hillary Clinton from her room in the Ritz Hotel to the BBC. I interviewed Ken Livingstone, Terry Waite, Michael Portillo, Tony Benn, Jeffrey Archer, Edwina Curry, Arthur Scargill, Ann Widdecombe, Harriet Harman, Denis Hatton, the Hamiltons, and Ellen Macarthur.
I could tell you a tale or two about most of them – but of course I always respect confidentiality!
I also love interviewing ordinary people. Of course there is no such thing – everyone is interesting once you really listen to what they have to say.
As a journalist I have been privileged to hear many amazing stories about people’s lives, whether they are growing giant vegetables, living in caves, seeing UFOs or preparing for the end of the world.
I am currently working on a new project with the creator of The Rocky Horror Show, the fascinating actor Richard O’brien, helping him to write a book about his remarkable life.
In 2004, I wrote an unauthorised biography of actor Colin Farrell, published by Blake Publishing.
I enjoyed researching Farrell’s early life in Dublin, his home town, talking to his boyhood friends and relatives and visiting his old school.
Writing something unauthorised is a battle, you are often working in the teeth of your subject and I would much rather write a book with the willing contribution of the subject and their family. I want to help people to fashion their own stories in print.
So go on, here is your chance, why not rent a ghost?
My agency is Darley Anderson in London. Their recent seven figure package for Lee Child, was one of the largest US deals ever negotiated by a London based Agent with a US publisher.
The agency has good contacts in Hollywood, for the last ten years worked closely in association with Steve Fisher of the APA Agency in Los Angeles. Recent sales include the Jack Reacher franchise to Paramount Pictures; John Connolly’s Bad Men to Graham/Rosenzweig Films at Paramount; Danny King’s The Hitman Diaries to Coracle Films and Adrian Plass’ Ghosts To White Light Productions. Recent UK film and TV deals include a BBC sitcom based on Danny King's Burglar Diaries.
DA also has large foreign language book sales, with an effective worldwide network of 22 leading foreign sub-agents.
You can contact me on
jane
janekellywriter.co.uk
