The Story Behind the Story with Author Jane Doucet of Halifax, NS, Canada.

 

Fishnet & Fantasies. What an intriguing title.

And it sounds like an entertaining novel.

Let’s welcome Jane to the Scribbler. It is her first visit to our blog and I hope it won’t be the last.

I’ve been following Jane on Twitter and I am beyond pleased she decided to share her Story Behind the Story this week.

Jane Doucet is a Halifax-based journalist whose articles have appeared in myriad national magazines, including Chatelaine and Canadian Living. In 2017, she self-published her debut novel, The Pregnant Pause, which was shortlisted for a 2018 Whistler Independent Book Award. In 2021, Nimbus Publishing’s Vagrant Press released her second novel, Fishnets & Fantasies. Vagrant Press will publish Jane’s third novel, Lost & Found in Lunenburg, in 2023.

 

Working Title: Fishnets & Fantasies

 

Synopsis: Wendy Hebb has been a fisherman’s wife for forty years. She has also been a mother, a yoga instructor, and a part-time soap maker. She loves her life in picturesque Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, but it’s just not enough anymore. With a burning entrepreneurial desire, she decides that when her husband, Paul, retires, it will finally be her turn to live out her dream. The catch: her dream is to open a sex shop.

While Paul begrudgingly goes along with Wendy’s “half-cocked” idea, it’s out of a sense of guilt; a recently spilled secret has their marriage on the rocks. As soon as the townspeople get wind of Wendy’s plans, it opens up a whole other can of worms—and Paul finds himself bait for the local rumour mill. Her silent, “invisible” partner in the project, he secretly hopes her plan for the shop will fail.

An irreverent novel full of heart and humour, Fishnets & Fantasies is a story of love and lust at any age, of old grudges and older secrets, and of the relationships that make all of the awkward fumbling worthwhile.

 

The Story Behind the Story: In 2017, my husband and I were talking about what we’d do if we won the lottery. We love visiting Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, so I imagined that we’d buy a house there. We were in our late forties, which I thought was too young to retire, so I suggested starting a business to keep us busy. I said, “What does Lunenburg need? Not another tourist shop. A chocolatier? No, someone in town makes chocolate. A small-batch soapery? No, someone in Chester makes soap. Hey, how about a sex shop?”

I thought that was a funny concept, and a lightbulb went off. I originally envisioned the story as a TV series, so I set out to write a screenplay, which I’d never done before. I borrowed Screenwriting for Dummies from the library, but ten pages in I quit. I thought, “This is too hard. I know! I’ll write a novel and sell it to the CBC.”

 

*******Website: www.janedoucet.com

 

A question before you go, Jane.

What is your favorite part of writing and the part you enjoy the least?

I’m a humour writer, so my favourite part is envisioning funny characters and scenes in my head, then putting together the right words to describe them in a way that will make me laugh. Of course, my hope is that those characters and scenes will make readers laugh, too, but I have to find them funny first. The part I enjoy the least? I find it hard to be patient with the process.

 

Thank you for being our guest this week, Jane. Wishing you continued success with your stories.

And thank you to our visitors and readers. Don't forget to leave a comment.