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Jane Taylor

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Author Introduction

Jane Taylor

An NHS worker, who recently decided to take the step of setting aside her career to focus on the completion of her debut novel.

The topics included in this book, particularly those of a medical nature stem from her own personal experiences – lending the story an authenticity that readers can truly feel.

As a child Jane was never far from a book or a sketch pad. That love of storytelling has never left her. When Jane is not writing, she can be found having dinner with friends, catching up with the girls or spending time with her family.

Jane lives just outside of Lincoln.

Full Biography Jane Taylor

Jane Taylor has spent the better part of her professional life in the heart of the NHS.

As a patient herself, her experiences and experiences shared with other people going through difficult stages in their lives too, is woven through every page of her debut novel.

Growing up with a deep love of books and storytelling, Jane has always written. Anything from journals, letters and short pieces.

The story that became It Started with a Fire had been taking shape for the last three years — in the observations she carried from her own experiences, in the friendships she had formed, in her own experience of grief and new beginnings, and in her belief that the people who change us most are often the ones we never expected to meet.

When she finally took the step of setting aside her career to finish the novel, Jane says it felt less like a leap of faith and more like coming home. The characters of Jess, Lottie, and Sian — who feel so present and alive in the book — had been waiting for her to sit down and tell their story properly.

“I write about the things I know to be true: that friendship is one of the greatest loves, that grief changes shape but never disappears, and that life has a way of sending exactly the right person at exactly the right moment. I hope readers find something of themselves in these pages.”
JANE TAYLOR

About Her Writing

Jane writes fiction that is rooted in the everyday — in real friendships, real communities, real love that grows slowly and quietly until it becomes the thing a life is built around. Her characters are flawed and warm and deeply human. Her settings feel lived in. Her endings are honest. She writes the kind of stories she has always loved to read: books that are impossible to put down, not because of dramatic twists, but because you care so deeply about the people inside them that you cannot bear to leave.

At the Heart of Jane’s Writing

  • Authentic characters whose inner lives feel real and recognisable
  • Settings and communities brought to life with warmth and detail
  • Themes of loss, recovery, friendship, and unexpected love
  • The quiet power of women who keep going, keep showing up, and keep each other going
  • A belief that the best stories are the ones that make you feel less alone
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In Loving Memory of Sian

Sian is not based on a real person, however, just three days before this story came to Jane, her dear friends, Julie and Aidy, lost their beloved daughter, unexpectedly at just 28 years of age. Jane wanted to have Sian in the book, so although the character isn’t written as a real person, Jane has added a couple of passions of their daughter Sian to create, she hopes, something special for them.