Spotlight On: Jane Hennigan

To celebrate the recent publication of Moths by Jane Hennigan we sat down with the author to talk about her gender dystopian novel. Jane takes us on a her journey from self-publication to the traditional route and gives advice on writing, and talks about what’s coming next.

You can order Moths on Waterstones, Amazon, Bookshop.org, and find it in your local bookstore too. You can find Jane on Twitter and her website.

Can you please introduce yourself and Moths? 

Moths is a dystopian speculative thriller examining what would happen if the world’s male population was decimated and women were left to rebuilt society. A plague of toxic moths descends upon humanity and infect men, killing them or turning them into psychotic monsters. The story is told by a seventy-year-old woman, forty years after the infestation. When Mary is offered the chance to salvage the past and readdress men’s place in society, she must decide if that would be the right thing to do.

As for me, originally, I taught English and philosophy A levels in the home counties, and I now live on the south coast. I began writing consistently when I was in my early 30s (I’m 48 now). Moths is my 5th full length novel and the first one I really felt excited about sharing with the world. I can usually be found either on the beach with my dog, Folly, where I think about the scene I’m planning to write, or in my snug writing and editing. Otherwise, I’m watching TV, eating takeaways, or reading – occasionally, all three at the same time.

The politics in Moths sees the world go from a patriarchy to a matriarchy in quite a sudden, violent shift. What did you find intriguing about writing such a shift in power? Why were you inspired to write dystopian fiction?

I love dystopian fiction in all its many different forms – from the kill or be killed Walking Dead and World War Z survivalism, to the tightly controlled political dystopias of Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale. I wanted to write both, so the dual timeline reflects this desire.

The shift in power was a way for me to challenge traditional gender roles and explore what it would look like if women were suddenly in charge of everything. It allowed me to create a world that was vastly different from our own, while still addressing issues that are prevalent in our society.

You originally self-published Moths before going down a more traditional publishing route. Can you talk a little bit about that experience?

I originally pitched Moths to agents in late 2020 and early 2021. At the time stories about pandemics were not seen as viable and I didn’t get very far so I decided to self-publish in July 2021. For the first couple of weeks the book managed a few sales a day (I was overjoyed at this – that anyone was reading my work out in the wide world and reviewing it positively was amazing!). Then it sort of took off. I put in place a modest online marketing campaign with Amazon and on the back of that the book climbed the Amazon charts. At its highest and on a special offer, it got to number 29 in the whole of UK Amazon – it briefly sat next to Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club on Kindle downloads (I took a screen shot!).

I really enjoyed self-publishing. The community is amazing – you can find loads of successful self-publishers willing to share what worked for them and what didn’t. However, it is a lot of hard work, and stress, and ultimately, you have to do and pay for everything yourself - finding covers, getting your work proofed, formatted, marketing, social media – the list is endless. In December 2021, after interest from a TV production company, I approached Liza DeBlock at Mushens Entertainment. She read the book, loved it, and offered to take me on as a client. I was thrilled. Then she went to work doing her agenty magic and organised a publishing deal with Angry Robot. Since then, I’ve had a brilliant experience having been guided and supported through the traditional publishing process every step of the way. Self-publishing was enjoyable for me – but having a whole team of editors, publicists and organisers in your corner is a massive benefit.

What have your learned from your journey as an author so far and what advice would you give your past self?

I would advise my past self to write more. For many years, I was one of those writers who wrote a few pages and then became consumed by self-doubt and shoved my work in a file never to be seen again. The first few books I wrote were overly self-conscious, overwritten and awkward. I needed to get to a place where I didn’t even think about the actual words, where I could just concentrate on the meaning. To get there, I needed practice, so those first books were just that – an apprenticeship. I’m sure there are some writers who knock it out of the park on their first try – great! However, I needed to write my way in, and it took a while. I wish I’d stared that process earlier. Now, when I sit down to write a scene, I don’t even consider the words. I can just relax and tell the page the story without self-consciousness of fear of judgement. I still have to go back and edit of course, but when I return to the page I don’t cringe like I used to.

What are you working on at the moment/what are you writing next?

Toxxic - the sequel to Moths. I’m editing this right now! The novel explores what would happen if a group of men in the post-moth society were able to leave their facility and attempt to reintegrate into the matriarchal community the moths left behind. It looks at a flipped version of toxic masculinity and examines the judgements and biases society has regarding gender – especially the perceived threat of nonconforming gender identities.

I’m also working on something new – something not set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian wilderness. Something… magical.