Jayne Chard
More Than Murder
Two retired sisters. One disappearing body.
The Writer’s Dossier 5/1/2025 – The Jayne Chard interview
DOSSIER: You graduated with a degree in psychology and drama. How do those two categories go together with your work now? Are you able to psychoanalyze someone on the set who’s being overly dramatic and use what you recall from your psy101 course lectures to calm them down?
CHARD: Psychology is all about looking at people’s behaviour and drawing conclusions as to why they’re behaving in the way they are. When you are a drama director or a drama producer as I am, the same process applies. In a script you’re looking for the story behind the characters. Why do they behave the way they do? What’s happened to them in the past,? How do they relate to other people? On the set, you’re looking for a performance that truly reflects the nuances of the character, bringing them to life in full colour not black and white. The truth of the story should be reflected in everything: props, sets, locations, and costumes.
It’s all imagination
DOSSIER: Your debut novel, MORE THAN MURDER, explores the tension between two half-sisters who have to come together to solve a murder. How much of these characters came out of your imagination vs real-life people you know? Do you happen to have a sister who may or may have not made her way into your novel?
CHARD: I don’t have a sister. Juila and Frankie are their own persons and I’m sure they’d be the first to tell you so!
Writing with cuddly dogs
DOSSIER: Where and when do you like to write? Your unboxing video on Facebooks looks like a cozy little nook. Do you ever write anywhere else? Is there music playing? A cockapoo at your feet?
CHARD: In the cold weather, I write in my study, which is painted in a cosy, warm burgundy. In the spring and summer, I work from my outside office, which is wonderfully sunny and overlooks the garden. It has a desk, a yellow sofa and some books. I write from about 9am until 5pm every weekday. I don’t play any music as I find that distracting. My two cuddly cookapoos are always with me.
Staying busy juggling
DOSSIER: How did you find the transition from being an award-winning director and producer to the solitude of writing a full-length mystery novel?
CHARD: I’m still working as a producer and juggle my writing between jobs. As I’m freelance, my producing work comes in blocks, so I can schedule my novel writing around my TV work. I like the solitude of writing but I also like the buzz of being on set.
The Last Word
DOSSIER: Is there anything else you’d like to reveal in your Dossier today? (We like headline-making breaking news and it gives our graphics department something to do other than play video games all day.)
CHARD: At the moment, I’m putting the finishing touches to the next book in the More Than Murder series—The Body That Floats—set in Portscatho, Cornwall, one of my favourite places. The book is coming out next spring.
In a Judo bout, I once accidentally broke someone’s nose.
DOSSIER: That’s awesome.
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