Jasmine Dennison: 'I wanted to write the story of a woman who was so much more capable than she thought she was'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
15th Oct 2024
Jasmine Dennison studied on our three-month Writing Your Novel course (online) taught by Suzannah Dunn in 2020. She's also taken an impressive range of short courses with us over the years!
Since then, her debut audiobook The Reset has been released as an Audible Original. We spoke to Jasmine about the process of adapting her novel for the audiobook format, her advice for creating chemistry between romantic leads, and favourite romance tropes.
You’ve taken an impressive range of short courses with us including Writing a Memoir, Edit & Pitch Your Novel and Character Development – The Deep Dive (and many more!) How did your time studying with us impact your writing journey?
It’s been invaluable. It was only when I signed up to my first CBC course and invested some time and money in my writing that I became more serious about getting published. Previously, there’d always been so many other things to focus on like working, earning money and raising a family. I think I’d always imagined I’d just get a publishing deal (!) but my writing just wasn’t good enough and through Curtis Brown I realised there was so much I could learn to help me improve.
I took so much from each different course and found sharing and commenting on other people’s work in the Learn forum so beneficial albeit daunting initially. Posting my work in the forum was the first time I’d ever put my writing out there to be critiqued by other writers, but receiving constructive criticism really helped me to improve and look at my own work in a different way.
In addition to our short courses, you’ve also studied on our three-month Writing Your Novel course with Suzannah Dunn. Is there a piece of advice you received from Suzannah that really stuck with you?
One of the key things that I learnt from Suzannah is that to make my characters more realistic, I needed to give them more emotional depth rather than just playing them for laughs. In life, I usually see the humour in a situation (one of my coping strategies) Suzannah helped me to understand that if I wanted to write fully rounded characters, I needed to give them time to really ‘feel’ their feelings.
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met on our courses?
Yes, I’ve been lucky that all the people I’ve met on the CBC courses have been so supportive. For both the three-month Writing Your Novel course and Cathy Rentzenbrink’s Writing a Memoir we’ve had some online catch ups and kept a WhatsApp Group going. A number of people from both courses have been kind enough to beta read for me and provided valuable feedback and support. A couple of us also attended a writing weekend together. It’s great to have people in your corner who understand what it’s like writing a novel and who are there to encourage you through the highs and the lows.
Your debut audiobook The Reset, was released as an Audible original last month narrated by Curtis Brown client, Jessica Barden. It’s a heartwarming second chance romance perfect for fans of Bridget Jones’ Diary. Can you tell us a bit more about the novel and the inspiration behind it?
I had the idea for Kate’s ‘situation’ (as her mother calls it!) from someone who’d been dumped by her boyfriend after seven years together. She’d been expecting marriage and children, but that had never been on his radar! I thought it was a really relatable situation and combined that with the idea of someone who’d been conditioned to ‘play small, ’be the ‘good girl’ and people please so as not to upset the status quo. That gave Kate plenty of potential for emotional growth. I wanted to write the story of a woman who was so much more capable than she thought she was and that even if it was scary at first, Kate would come to realise that it’s way more fun to be the one in the driving seat rather than always letting someone else take the wheel.
Could you tell us a bit more about the process of adapting your novel for the audiobook format? Did you get to be involved in the casting of the narrator?
Audible have been amazing. Before my agent Viola Hayden from Curtis Brown told me that Sophia MacAskill in Curtis Brown’s Audio department had submitted my manuscript to Audible, I hadn’t even realised that it was even an option to have my novel published as a stand-alone audiobook. Once we’d signed the contract, Audible found me a fantastic editor in my genre who sent through some detailed notes to help improve my manuscript but they were very clear that it was my book and I didn’t have to make any changes that I didn’t feel comfortable with. Ultimately it was Audible’s decision as to who they’d cast as the narrator, but they kept me informed throughout. I was excited to hear it was going to be fellow northerner and Curtis Brown client, Jessica Barden. Especially when I discovered she’d be recording in LA … although unfortunately I didn’t get to visit!
The relationship between your two lead characters, Kate and Dan, is so sweet! How did you create chemistry between your romantic leads that feels believable?
It probably helps that I often live in a fantasy world and usually see things in a positive light. When things happen in real life which aren’t romantic at all, I tend to reimagine them with a romantic spin! I’m fascinated by human relationships and like to talk to people. Hearing their stories gives me plenty of inspiration.
The Reset includes the second chance romance and small-town romance tropes (two of my favourites!) What is your favourite romance trope in a story and why?
I do love a second chance romance because life doesn’t turn out how we imagine, but it’s never too late to find that happy ending. My next novel has a holiday romance in it though as I like the idea of some excitement in the sunshine!
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I have 3 different novels in progress as when something happens that inspires me, I start writing about it. The book I’m focusing on right now has my protagonist moving to Australia in a ‘fish out of water’ situation … hence the holiday romance (and the sunshine). I’ve also had an idea for a sitcom and have been investigating courses to help me with that as I’ve never written for television before. There’s so much I want to do, I just need to carve out the time.
The Reset is out on audiobook now!