Jenny Kane: Coffee, cupcakes, chocolate and contemporary fiction / Jennifer Ash: Medieval crime with hints of Ellis Peters and Robin Hood

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Coming Soon: A Cornish Escape

It’s only 6 days until A Cornish Escape hits the bookshelves (and eBook devices)!

Previously known as Abi’s House, this feel good novel is very close to my heart.

Most of my childhood summer’s were spent in Penwith area of Cornwall; staying in Penzance with my grandparents, while exploring, Sennon, Marizion, Land’s End and beyond.

Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Phillipa Ashley and Cathy Bramley, this summer romance is sure to warm your heart.

Abi’s life is turned upside down when she is widowed before her thirtieth birthday. Determined to find something positive in the upheaval, Abi decides to make a fresh start somewhere new. With fond childhood memories of holidays in a Cornish cottage, could Cornwall be the place to start over?

With all her belongings in the boot of her car but no real plan, a chance meeting in a village pub brings new friends Beth and Max into her life. Max soon helps Abi track down the house of her dreams but things aren’t as simple as Abi hoped.

Can Abi leave her past behind and finally get her happy ending?(Previously published as Abi’s House)

There is something particularly stunning about the Cornish landscape, whether it’s the breathtaking coastline, or the villages, or the land in between. It is not suprising therefore, that so many books are set in the region, whether they be coffee shop romances or atmospheric thrillers.

A Cornish Escape is a feel good novel, full of friendship and fun – but there are still obstacles to overcome before Abi Carter can feel truly at home in the county.

So why not escape with Abi Carter into the beautiful Penwith corner of Cornwall? Let the sea breeze calm you, the fish and chips sustain you, and the adventure unfold.

 

Available as a paperback or in eBook format, you can pre-order your copy of The Cornish Escape from all good book retailers, including

Amazon UK 

Amazon.com  

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Don’t miss any of the stops on my blog tour, starting on 8th May.

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Coffee at Christmas: Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection

It’s been some time now since I wrote these seasonal coffee shop specials, Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas in the Cotswolds, and Christmas at the Castle. It’s been fun looking back over the stories of my past. The longer the period of time between writing and now, the more it feels like reading the words that someone else has created. I often have to remind myself that these stories are actually mine!

 

Blurb

The Jenny Kane Christmas Collection combines all three seasonal shorts from Jenny’s best-selling Another Cup of … series in one festive anthology.

In ‘Another Cup of Christmas’, we return to Pickwicks Coffee House in London, the setting for Jenny’s bestselling novel Another Cup of Coffee. Together with old friends Kit, Amy, Scott and Peggy, we meet new waitress Megan, who’s in charge of organising a charity event for the local hospital. Is romance as well as seasonal goodwill in the air?

‘Christmas in the Cotswolds’ sees Megan, now an established face at Pickwicks, travelling to the beautiful Cotswold countryside after an emergency call from her friend Izzie. Can Megan help Izzie pull off the perfect Christmas at her Arts and Crafts Centre – and save the business from disaster?

Kit Lambert, Pickwicks’ writer-in-residence, takes centre stage in ‘Christmas at the Castle’. Already nervous about appearing at her very first literary festival, in the grounds of a magnificent Scottish castle at Christmas time, Kit suddenly finds herself co-organising the whole thing – and trying to repair old friendships – with the deadline fast approaching…

***

 

You can buy these three books together or you can buy them individually by following the following links.

Another Cup of Christmas

Christmas in the Cotswolds

Christmas at the Castle

And if you fancy the paperback, then you can buy that here-

Happy Christmas clicking!!

Jenny xx

Interview with Jon Hartless

It’s interview time. Today Steampunk author Jon Hartless is here for a writer type chinwag 

Why not grab yourself a cuppa, put your feet up for five minutes, and come and join us for a chat?

What inspired you to write your book?

It was a bit of a mental collision between different ideas, topics and real life. I’d known of the Bentley Boys for some time but only in the sense that I knew they were famous racing drivers of the 1920s. I did some research about the era, learning how most of the Bentley Boys were very rich playboys and I saw that the gulf between the rich and the poor could be encoded very neatly by using motor racing and car ownership. With the rich in cars and the poor on foot, you have a very clear demarcation between the two.

I’d also seen on TV a wonderful car called Brutus, the engine of which came from an old 1920s airplane. The car was a big, brutal, black vehicle that was very difficult to drive, as shown on an old episode of Top Gear (obviously before Jeremy Clarkson developed his hobby of beating up members of the production crew for not having a hot meal for him on demand), wherein Clarkson had trouble on the track as the vehicle was quite skittish owing to the power.

The final factor that came into play was chatting to someone I met at a Steampunk event at the Commandery in Worcester; she was involved in amateur dramatics and she was doing a Christmas pantomime which, in essence, was a Steampunk version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Unfortunately, I never saw it and so I know nothing else about it, but that left the vague image floating in my mind, bobbling about.

And so, eventually, all these elements collided in my brain and there it was; a steampunk motor racing story, giving me many opportunities to examine inequality within society, as well as the roles we are expected to adopt and conform to by the status quo, all centring on the heroine and a huge Brutus-like car that exacts a terrible price on any who try to drive it.

What type of research did you have to do for your book?

I did a lot of background reading on the Bentley Boys and associated topics, such as the rise and fall of the original Bentley Motor, and on motor racing in general back in those very early days of the sport. Books included biographies, autobiographies, reminiscences and the like, some written almost at the time, some not done until years later, and I also picked up anything I could on motoring and that era (the 1920s) that I could find. And of course anything on the Victorian era helped, given that the Victorian epoch didn’t really end until the Great War, and you can argue it extended (in certain ways) even beyond that.

Which Point of View do you prefer to write in and why?

I prefer the third person omniscient, but my one digital publisher (who sells mostly in the United States) repeatedly warns all their authors against this as their feedback from the public demonstrated this is not a popular voice, for some reason. It seems that the authorial voice telling you that a character is lying is unacceptable to the readers as they demand to know how anyone can know this, and hence the limited third person is preferred, wherein the impersonal narrator knows no more than the characters do… hence it may be suspected that a character is lying, but no more. Quite what the problem is with the concept of an omniscient author I do not know, but American readers just don’t seem to like it.

Having said that, Full Throttle is written by an editor writing “now” but looking back about one hundred years to the events “then”, so everything is being selected and filtered through his mind. Which makes for an interesting change.

Do you prefer to plot your story or just go with the flow?

I generally know the outline – where the story starts, where it ends, and a few points in between – but within those parameters I just let it develop wherever it wants to go. I could claim that unstructured free-flowing subconscious creativity is a primary requisite to creating a real, living world, but in truth I’m just too lazy to plot everything out beforehand.

What is your writing regime?

I’m out and about in my job, visiting different people in different places, so quite often my regime is nothing more than having an hour to spare between appointments and quickly getting the laptop out and doing what I can while sitting in the car. Finding a quiet side road is essential for this to work…

Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Throttle-Jon-Hartless/dp/1786154579/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504432789&sr=8-1&keywords=jon+hartless

Bio

Jon Hartless was born in the seventies, which is rather long time ago. Full Throttle is his first novel with a traditional publisher.

***

Thanks for stopping by today, Jon.

Happy reading everyone,

Jennyxx

 

 

Guest post by Jon Hartless: How not to start a novel

Today I’m delighted to welcome author Jon Hartless, hot on the heels of the publication of his latest book, Full Throttle.

Over to you Jon…

About four or five years ago, I had an idea. That idea was “Let’s write a steampunk motor racing story inspired by the era of the Bentley Boys.”

For those who don’t know, Steampunk is usually set in an alternative nineteenth century timeline in which technology had advanced to a greater degree than in reality, but the idea is flexible so please don’t feel that this definition is the only one. The Bentley Boys were very famous racing car drivers of the 1920s, beloved by the media for their wealth, social status, and derring-do racing lifestyle. This was at a time when most people still couldn’t even afford a car, never mind race one, and as such I thought the world of motor racing would be a perfect symbol for the gulf between the rich and the poor.

As ideas go, this one had quite a lot encoded within it. To begin with, this was to be a dirty, grubby Steampunk world, not a bright, shining version. Despite the presence of cutting-edge technology, my story would only feature glimpses of it, for only the wealthy elite would be able to afford it. This was to be a world very like ours, in which opportunity only exists for the rich and well-connected while everyone else is presented with the illusion of opportunity, a practice very familiar to us today.

And within this world we would focus on a young girl condemned to a life of poverty – material and intellectual – because of her working class background, her gender, and also her disability – she only has one arm, owing to a birth defect, and a weak knee from the same cause. But fortunately for her, her father has a small workshop and a secret project; a petrol engine designed specifically for motor racing. And there it was; an intelligent heroine named Poppy Orpington and a petrol-fuelled monster of a car called Thunderbus would rise up to challenge the racing elite and the social order, to smash conventions apart. Every piece slotted neatly into place.

And having thought of this, and having practically the whole thing in my mind, I then abandoned it to rewrite the core concept.  For no reason at all. Other than I was a complete prawn. For some reason I just lost faith in it and thought I’ll never get it accepted. Instead, I reimagined it as a book for young children, with large pictures on every page, where Poppy is a girl of about 8, whose eccentric father makes a car and they go off racing, towing a caravan behind them.

I then binned that idea and thought of making it a bit more “pulp”; in this version, Poppy – now a grown woman without any birth defect – is heading home from work one evening and is accosted by a sinister man who offers her 50 quid for something called Thunderbus. She has no idea what he’s talking about, and walks on. Then another man pops up and offers her 100 quid. Then two more agents appear and offer 250, and when again she refuses they attack her and try to take her prisoner. Poppy promptly goes Mrs Peel on their arses (old TV reference) and escapes. Back home she finds a letter from a solicitor saying very sorry, your father has died, and you have inherited everything; a small workshop, several debts, and something called Thunderbus.

So, Poppy visits the solicitor who gives her the keys to the workshop and says he has no idea what Thunderbus is. Poppy visits, the workshop, (and is probably attacked again by yet more sinister men), and finds that Thunderbus is a sort of small armoured tank with advanced weapons of the sort that has never been seen before and which will change the face of warfare, hence the many ominous agents want to get their hands on it and have killed her father in the attempt…

And at that point I gave up on that version, though it did briefly rise vampire-like with a new take, in that I thought; what if Poppy’s father knows it will take him about 15 years to make Thunderbus because of the complexity of doing it all alone, plus he knows that super-strength will be required to pilot the tank, and he looks at his baby daughter, asleep in her crib, and lops her arm off, thereafter telling her it is a birth defect and bringing her up to obey him in everything? The action would then jump forward to Poppy as a teen girl, worshiping her father as she has been brainwashed by him, and using her mechanical arm to use Thunderbus as her father commands, blowing up a bank here or a military installation there. The story would have then been of her ‘awakening’ as she realises the Mephistophelian nature of her father and rebels against him. But that idea died a death also. Thankfully.

And so, after all that, I finally thought, “hang on, what was wrong with the racing idea that practically wrote itself?” I went back to that, and the rest was plain sailing. Except for about thirty thousand rewrites and almost one hundred rejections. But these are a writer’s usual problems, or at least they are my usually problems, and finally the book was accepted and published, and here it is. If there is any point to this blog, I suppose it is have faith in a good idea. Or don’t be afraid to change it, if need be. Or something.

I hope you enjoy the book. A lot of torment went into creating it, never mind writing it…

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Throttle-Jon-Hartless/dp/1786154579/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504447643&sr=1-1&keywords=jon+hartless

https://www.facebook.com/jonhartlessauthor/

Full Throttle Extract:

PREFACE

By James Birkin, Editor.

Today, Poppy Orpington is hardly remembered at all. Some do know that she was a famous racing driver, though only a minority of these are aware that her first car was called Thunderbus, not Thunderbolt, a mistake arising from her later company of that name. Others wrongly dismiss her as the first of the modern celebrities, working the media for fame and money, while a few will gleefully recall libellous newspaper reports of harlotry in a Parisian bawdy house whenever her name is mentioned.

Most, however, are familiar only with her stained reputation from the Great War – a reputation, I maintain, that is thoroughly undeserved. However, I must not get ahead of myself. I shall explore everything in the right order and put Poppy in the context of her era. Her exoneration, should you wish to grant it, must be given at the right time and with a full understanding of Poppy’s character.

This, then, is the beginning of the testimony, taken from diaries, letters and personal contemporaneous interviews. Some may complain that my shaping of this material into a narrative rather than an academic account will diminish the authenticity of the work; I contest that Poppy’s biography is so dramatic in tone, and so rich in style, that it pulled itself naturally into this shape.

Nonetheless, a few disclaimers should be noted. Memory is fragile, and it is unsurprising to see the manner in which events can be transposed, altered and generally misunderstood. Please be assured that I have researched all areas as closely as possible and that everything in this book actually took place, though not necessarily in the order given.

Also, the spoken language at that time was rather more formal than today, especially amongst the upper classes and the well-educated, and this has driven me to lightly edit certain conversations between Poppy, Simeon, Helena and their contemporaries. Please be assured that I have endeavoured to keep the pith of each exchange, sacrificing the semi-archaic speech patterns only for the sake of lucidity.

The reader may ask just why I have devoted so much time to the Orpington archive of diaries, letters and more. Does it really matter what happened to an almost forgotten woman over a century ago? In my opinion, and simply put; yes. Poppy’s life has many parallels today, while her eventual fate in the early years of the twentieth century could – tragically – easily happen again. I will accordingly interpose a series of editor’s notes on those aspects of Poppy’s life that I feel are relevant to us. I shall endeavour to keep these interjections to a minimum, however, as they serve to illuminate rather than to distract.

Join me, then, as we travel back to when motor sport was still open to amateurs – albeit only wealthy amateurs – who could race their own cars side-by-side with the professionals of the day. Back when the sport still boasted heroic individuality rather than corporate wrangling over fuel consumption and weight limits. Back when cars were designed by hand and built by imagination, and were as much for the public road as the racetrack, unlike today’s machine-designed racing vehicles that have no function outside the sport and no individuality within it.

So, let us return to an age which is now regarded as a lost era of romance and rugged individualism, but which was also characterised by gross inequality, a rigid social order, casual violence toward women and unthinking submission toward authority. And let us never forget that the past is golden only when viewed from afar.

***

Bio

Jon Hartless was born in the seventies, which is rather long time ago. Full Throttle is his first novel with a traditional publisher.

Jon Hartless

Many thanks Jon, sounds great.

Happy reading everyone,

Jenny. xx

Sunshine Dreaming: Returning to Abi’s House

What better way to start the New Year than to forget the grey cold days of winter, and look forward to a Cornish summer?…

I’m delighted to say that the sequel to my Cornish friendship and romance novel, Abi’s House, is almost ready, and will be out in the world in June! That might feel a long way away to you- but in novel writing world that’s almost next week! There are many bits and bobs to do to prepare a book in between it being written and reaching your eager hands. I should say at this point how grateful and humbled I am  by all the messages I’ve had about Abi’s House. It seems to have touched a lot of people’s hearts. I can only hope that Abi’s Neighbour will be equally well received.

Sennen

Abi’s Neighbour will follow on from where we left Max, Abi, Beth and their friends in the beautiful Sennen Cove, at the very tip of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall. There will – obviously- be a new neighbour moving in next door to Abi on Miners Row. I’m saying no more for now- but there will be a cover reveal very soon…

In the meantime, why not hide from the awful weather and indulge in a little Cornish sunshine via Abi’s House.

Blurb

Newly widowed at barely thirty, Abi Carter is desperate to escape the Stepford Wives-style life that Luke, her late husband, had been so keen for her to live.

Abi decides to fulfil a lifelong dream. As a child on holiday in a Cornwall as a child she fell in love with a cottage – the prophetically named Abbey’s House. Now she is going to see if she can find the place again, relive the happy memories … maybe even buy a place of her own nearby?

On impulse Abi sets off to Cornwall, where a chance meeting in a village pub brings new friends Beth and Max into her life. Beth, like Abi, has a life-changing decision to make. Max, Beth’s best mate, is new to the village. He soon helps Abi track down the house of her dreams … but things aren’t quite that simple. There’s the complicated life Abi left behind, including her late husband’s brother, Simon – a man with more than friendship on his mind … Will Abi’s house remain a dream, or will the bricks and mortar become a reality?

 

Here are some of the lovely review’s Abi’s House has received…

A summer read as scrumptious as its Cornish backdrop. Brilliant!”

“This novel is a box of delights…the perfect escapist read…”

“Better than a Cornish Cream Tea…”

“Reading a Jenny Kane book is like opening a journal by a much loved friend…”

***

To pick up your copy Abi’s House in either paperback or on Kindle visit any good book retailer or follow these links

 
Happy reading,
Jenny xx

Polishing the Baubles and Brewing the Mulled Wine: Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection

With the release date for my Pickwick’s coffee shop seasonal trilogy, Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection, fast approaching (November 17th), I’ve been taking the opportunity to take a final read through the three books that make up the collection – Another Cup of Christmas, Christmas at the Cotswolds, and Christmas at the Castle.

It’s been some time now since I wrote the first two seasonal coffee shop specials, and a good 18 months since writing the story of a Scottish Literary Festival at Crathes Castle in, Christmas at the Castle. It’s been fun looking back over the stories of my past. The longer the period of time between writing and now, the more it feels like reading the words that someone else has created. I often have to remind myself that these stories are actually mine!

jennykanes-christmas-collection-pre

Like all writers, I never feel as though my books are good enough, so it has been nice being able to read them through, and give them that extra buff up! I have been, as it were, polishing the festive baubles along with Peggy at Pickwicks, and brewing up the mulled wine, like Mrs Vickers in the Cotswolds!

During the publication process there are always things that get missed – the odd word that I’ve got muddled and not noticed because my brain has read the wrong word as the right word! Then there is the occasional madly placed comma that the printing system has decided to add into my work just for fun, and so on. Having a chance to eliminate the errors made the first time round is most satisfying! Not that these errors were huge- but imperfections in my work drive me crackers. (Especially when they are often my fault!)

jennykaneschristmascollection200

Blurb

The Jenny Kane Christmas Collection combines all three seasonal shorts from Jenny’s best-selling Another Cup of … series in one festive anthology.

In ‘Another Cup of Christmas’, we return to Pickwicks Coffee House in London, the setting for Jenny’s bestselling novel Another Cup of Coffee. Together with old friends Kit, Amy, Scott and Peggy, we meet new waitress Megan, who’s in charge of organising a charity event for the local hospital. Is romance as well as seasonal goodwill in the air?

‘Christmas in the Cotswolds’ sees Megan, now an established face at Pickwicks, travelling to the beautiful Cotswold countryside after an emergency call from her friend Izzie. Can Megan help Izzie pull off the perfect Christmas at her Arts and Crafts Centre – and save the business from disaster?

Kit Lambert, Pickwicks’ writer-in-residence, takes centre stage in ‘Christmas at the Castle’. Already nervous about appearing at her very first literary festival, in the grounds of a magnificent Scottish castle at Christmas time, Kit suddenly finds herself co-organising the whole thing – and trying to repair old friendships – with the deadline fast approaching…

***

One of the things that struck me when I was re-reading my work is that it’s far more life affirming, fun, and full of friendship than I’d realised. Oh, and it’s brimming over with coffee!!!

ACOChristmas- New 2015CITC- New cover 2015Christmas at the Castle

Available in paperback from 17th November- you can pre-order the collection on Kindle here now-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jenny-Kanes-Christmas-Collection-Short-ebook/dp/B01M0ICD7A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474386377&sr=8-2&keywords=jenny+kane%27s+christmas+collection

https://www.amazon.com/Jenny-Kanes-Christmas-Collection-Short-ebook/dp/B01M0ICD7A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474387008&sr=8-1&keywords=jenny+kane%27s+christmas+collection

Or you can buy each of the stories on Kindle individually – all the links are available below

Another Cup of Christmas

Christmas in the Cotswolds

Christmas at the Castle

Happy Christmas clicking!!

Jenny xx

Pre-order Available: Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection

In the interests of giving you lovely folk plenty of time to sort that Christmas present shopping, the Kindle pre-order link for my Pickwick’s coffee shop seasonal trilogy, Jenny Kane’s Christmas Collection, is available to click right now!

jennykanes-christmas-collection-pre

Blurb

The Jenny Kane Christmas Collection combines all three seasonal shorts from Jenny’s best-selling Another Cup of … series in one festive anthology.

In ‘Another Cup of Christmas’, we return to Pickwicks Coffee House in London, the setting for Jenny’s bestselling novel Another Cup of Coffee. Together with old friends Kit, Amy, Scott and Peggy, we meet new waitress Megan, who’s in charge of organising a charity event for the local hospital. Is romance as well as seasonal goodwill in the air?

‘Christmas in the Cotswolds’ sees Megan, now an established face at Pickwicks, travelling to the beautiful Cotswold countryside after an emergency call from her friend Izzie. Can Megan help Izzie pull off the perfect Christmas at her Arts and Crafts Centre – and save the business from disaster?

Kit Lambert, Pickwicks’ writer-in-residence, takes centre stage in ‘Christmas at the Castle’. Already nervous about appearing at her very first literary festival, in the grounds of a magnificent Scottish castle at Christmas time, Kit suddenly finds herself co-organising the whole thing – and trying to repair old friendships – with the deadline fast approaching…

***

jennykaneschristmascollection200

Available in paperback from 17th November- you can pre-order the collection on Kindle here now-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jenny-Kanes-Christmas-Collection-Short-ebook/dp/B01M0ICD7A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474386377&sr=8-2&keywords=jenny+kane%27s+christmas+collection

https://www.amazon.com/Jenny-Kanes-Christmas-Collection-Short-ebook/dp/B01M0ICD7A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474387008&sr=8-1&keywords=jenny+kane%27s+christmas+collection

Or you can buy each of the stories on Kindle individually – all the links are available below

Another Cup of Christmas

Christmas in the Cotswolds

Christmas at the Castle

Happy Christmas clicking!!

Jenny xx

Guest Post from Jane Jackson: The Master’s Wife

I’m delighted to welcome one of my fellow Accent authors to the blog today. Jane Jackson is a truly excellent writer, and an all round lovely person. She is here today to share some of the background to her novel, ‘The Master’s Wife.’

Over to you Jane…

When Caseley and Jago Barata’s two young sons die in an epidemic while he’s away at sea, her grief and his guilt create an unbridgeable chasm between them.

Believing he failed his wife when she needed him most, Jago cannot turn to her for comfort. Seeking escape from his guilt he takes up with his former mistress, devastating Caseley when she finds out.

Aware of Jago’s undercover work in Spain, and deeply anxious that increasing unrest in Egypt could lead to war, the British Treasury asks him to carry £20,000 in gold to Egypt to bribe the largest Bedouin tribe to fight on Britain’s side.

What had caused the unrest?   Ambitious to make Egypt more like Europe, Khedive Said then his heir and nephew Ismail had raised money for their expansive but poorly-planned schemes through crushing taxation.  When that wasn’t enough, they took out huge loans at high interest rates from British and European banks.

By 1876 Egypt faced bankruptcy.  Anxious to protect its 44% share in the Suez Canal, Britain demanded – and was granted- joint financial management of Egypt with France. Ismail was deposed in favour of his son Prince Tewfiq, and left for exile in Naples on a train loaded with gold, objets d’art, jewels and furniture.

The poorest Egyptians saw little improvement in their lot. They toiled for overseers employed by large landowners and too often had to choose between buying seed for their own small plots, or a length of cloth to replace the rags that were all they had to wear.

Wilfully blind to their own part in fuelling the upsurge of anger, the ruling elite refused to believe that the fellahin would ever rebel. But the Egyptian poor, who did not want their country ruled by Turks or by Europeans, had found a charismatic leader in Egyptian-born Col. Ahmed Arabi.  (There is a saying that those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it, and I see painful similarities between these events and our current situation)

Jago’s mission to Egypt would take him away from home for at least three months. Desperate to escape a house filled with memories, Caseley pleads to go with him. He is reluctant, concerned for her safety. But she demolishes his argument by pointing out that for her the worst has already happened so what has she to fear?  Besides, the official language in Alexandria is French which she speaks and he doesn’t. if only for this he needs her.

The Master's Wife

Because I’m a plotter, I had mapped out the story’s route. But Caseley and Jago are strong people and once the journey began they took over, reacting in ways I hadn’t planned or expected. This led to unforeseen consequences. It was as much an adventure for me as it was for them. I lived the events with them. I laughed, wept and had my heart in my mouth more than once. Would Jago fulfil his mission?  Could he and Caseley find a way back to each other?

***

Excerpt:

Gesturing towards an alcove screened from the cabin by the folds of a thick dark curtain, he moved to the open doorway. ‘You know your way around. I want to get underway.’

‘Yes, of course.’

They were husband and wife and as wary as strangers. He disappeared and she heard his boots clang on the chased brass treads of the companionway. Alone now she pressed a gloved hand to her dry throat as her heart thudded. Not too late…With all her heart she hoped so.

Everything was as she remembered: the table designed to fit the narrowing stern and edged with a wooden lip to prevent things sliding off. The shelf above filled with books and sea junk secured by a beautifully turned fiddle rail. The shallow brass lamp suspended beneath the open skylight.

Her gaze moved from the clock and barometer to the squat stove standing on its protective metal plate in front of the forward bulkhead and bracketed by a full coal-bucket and basket of logs.

Through the open skylight came the sounds of a ship making ready for sea: the rattle of blocks, snapping canvas, and the crew’s banter. Six years had passed since her last trip and it was exactly as she remembered.

She crossed to the sleeping alcove. Pushing back the curtain she saw the nightstand. Beneath a hinged lid was an enamel basin. A cupboard underneath held a chamber pot. Light fell across the bed and her breath caught in her throat.

Immediately after proposing to her, Jago had instructed Hammer to widen the narrow berth so it would comfortably accommodate them both.  She had made a mattress to fit and bought new blankets.  In that small private space they had discovered each other, shared their pasts and talked of their plans for the future. Their elder son had been conceived there. She had slept in Jago’s arms, safe, loved, until her advancing pregnancy had made it uncomfortable and unwise.

The berth had been reduced to its original size. Rejection stung like a slap. She lifted the blankets and saw the mattress had been made smaller. Their time together, her presence here, her part in his seafaring life, he had erased it all. She had believed herself numb to further pain. She wasn’t.

***

You can buy The Master’s Wife from all good retailers, including- :  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Masters-Wife-Captains-Honour-Book-ebook/dp/B01DPSLP5C

***

JanepinkRS

Bio

I have lived in the same Cornish village nearly all my life.

My first book, a romantic thriller, was published in 1982. After four medical and ten contemporary romances for Harlequin as Dana James published worldwide I began writing longer historical romances. Of the fourteen published as Jane Jackson some remained Cornwall-based, others – set in the C18th and C19th – ventured to foreign shores while maintaining strong Cornish links. After joining the RNA in the early 1990s I reached the shortlist for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award with Eye of the Wind in 2002, and was shortlisted for the Historical Prize in 2010 with Heart of Stone, and in 2016 for The Consul’s Daughter.  Crosscurrents published in 2016 was shortlisted for the Winston Graham Historical Prize. The fourth in my ‘Polvellan Cornish Mysteries’ series, Secrets and Lies written as Rachel Ennis was published in April.

Teaching the Craft of Novel Writing for over twenty years from Ad. Ed. to MA level has been both a pleasure and a privilege. Ten of my former students are now multi-published novelists.

www.janejackson.net

www.facebook.com/JaneJacksonAuthor

www.facebook.com/PolvellanCornishMysteries

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Many thanks Jane, wonderful blog.

Happy reading,

Jenny x

My First Time: Karen King

It’s time for another in my interview series, ‘My First Time’. Today I’m delighted to welcome Karen King to talk about her earliest writing and publishing memories. Over to you Karen…

First Time

Can you remember writing the first story you actually wanted to write, rather than those you were forced to write at school? What was it about?

I’ve always loved writing and used to write a lot as a child. I often had little stories and poems published in the letters page of comics or Uncle Len’s Chipper Club page in the Birmingham Evening Mail. The very first thing I can remember having published was a poem when I was ten or eleven, about my baby brother Peter.

The very first book I wrote was about a ghost called Esmerelda. Esmerelda was annoyed when a family moved into her home, which had stood empty for years, so tried scare them away. The trouble was no matter what she did they weren’t scared. My kids loved it but publishers didn’t. I can see why now.

What was your first official publication?

An article for Jackie magazine titled ‘Beating the Dole Queue Blues’ back in the eighties. I was so chuffed to finally sell something after quite a few rejections. I wish now I’d photocopied the cheque (I think it was for £18) and framed it.

Spurred by this success I wrote more articles and photo stories for Jackie, and romance stories for Loving, Patches and Blue Jeans. Then I moved on to writing for various children’s magazines such as Thomas the Tank Engine, Barbie, Sindy and Winnie the Pooh. The children’s magazine market was exploding at that time and I sometimes wrote regularly for as many as four different magazines a month.

My first published books were three story cassette books based around Acorn Green, a children’s magazine I was writing for. I was very excited about this but there was a mix up and the three books were all published under the wrong name so it was a bit of a damp squib! I guess my first proper book was Christmas Fun, an activity book published by Scholastic. Amazingly, it was quite a good seller and I was asked to write other activity books for Scholastic.

What affect did that have on your life?

Writing for children’s magazines meant I had a regular income, which was great but it was a crazy life working to tight deadlines. I wrote all sorts of stuff; comic strips, stories, articles, pop features, quizzes – I even wrote a horoscope page and problem page. As the writer, everything started with me and I had to get my script to the office in plenty of time so the artists could get working. And this was the days before computers and email, at first anyway, so I had to get the scripts in the post. I had four young children at this time and often worked way past midnight when everyone else was sleeping, getting up again at six to meet the deadlines. I look back now and don’t know how I did it.

sapphire blue cover

Does your first published story reflect your current writing style?

I guess in a way I’ve come full circle, because my first published stories were romance stories and now I mainly write YA and romance novels. Of course there’s a lot of difference between a short story for a teen mag and a romance novel. I still write children’s books too.

My YA Sapphire Blue, an afterlife romance adventure, was published last year and I’m planning a sequel. The two main characters, Will and Sapphire, tragically die in the first chapter and are separated in the afterlife. They love each other so much they’ll do anything to find each other, including going to Red, where they encounter a lot of danger and have to deal with some creatures called Soul Catchers. I don’t want to give too much away but I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s read it without crying.

My first book for Accent Press is due out in May this year. It’s titled I Do? …or Do I? and is about a local journalist, Cassie, who is about to marry safe, reliable hot shot lawyer, Timothy but her ‘Monster in Law’ Sylvia is determined to make it the ‘wedding of the year’. When Sylvia books the exclusive ID images to take photographs of the extravagant wedding, Cassie has no idea what she’s walking into. The elusive JM who is the newest photographer employed just so happens to be Jared, Cassie’s first love and ex-fiancé, who broke off their engagement to follow his life-long dreams. So it’s very much a case of ‘will she or won’t she?’ I’ve very excited about it.

I Do

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve been contracted to write two more books for Accent. I’ve just delivered book 2 and am now planning book 3. I’m also working on a YA and a children’s series. I like to have a lot of things on the go.

KK Head and Shoulders

Website: http://karenking.net/

Facebook Author pages:

Children’s books https://www.facebook.com/KarenKingAuthor/

Romance bookshttps://www.facebook.com/KarenKingRomanceAuthor/

Twitter: Karen_king

Sapphire Blue Amazon link: http://bookgoodies.com/a/1625261667

I Do?… or Do I?

Amazon – http://bookgoodies.com/a/B01CGKLOKQ

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Many thanks for such a great interview Karen,

Happy reading,

Jenny xx

Sunshine Dreaming: Returning to Abi’s House

I’m delighted to say that the sequel to my Cornish friendship and romance novel, Abi’s House, is well underway, and will be out in the world in Summer 2017. (Yes- that is just over a year away!!)

Sennen

Abi’s Neighbour will follow on from where we left Max, Abi, Beth and their friends in the beautiful Sennen Cove, at the very tip of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall. There will – obviously- be a new neighbour moving in next door to Abi on Miners Row…but I’m saying no more for now!

In the meantime, why not hide from the awful weather this Easter weekend, indulge in a little Cornish sunshine, and discover the world of Abi Carter, and her dream home.

Blurb

Newly widowed at barely thirty, Abi Carter is desperate to escape the Stepford Wives-style life that Luke, her late husband, had been so keen for her to live.

Abi decides to fulfil a lifelong dream. As a child on holiday in a Cornwall as a child she fell in love with a cottage – the prophetically named Abbey’s House. Now she is going to see if she can find the place again, relive the happy memories … maybe even buy a place of her own nearby?

On impulse Abi sets off to Cornwall, where a chance meeting in a village pub brings new friends Beth and Max into her life. Beth, like Abi, has a life-changing decision to make. Max, Beth’s best mate, is new to the village. He soon helps Abi track down the house of her dreams … but things aren’t quite that simple. There’s the complicated life Abi left behind, including her late husband’s brother, Simon – a man with more than friendship on his mind … Will Abi’s house remain a dream, or will the bricks and mortar become a reality?

Abi's House_edited-1

Here are some of the lovely review’s Abi’s House has received…

A summer read as scrumptious as its Cornish backdrop. Brilliant!”

“This novel is a box of delights…the perfect escapist read…”

“Better than a Cornish Cream Tea…”

“Reading a Jenny Kane book is like opening a journal by a much loved friend…”

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To pick up your copy Abi’s House in either paperback or on Kindle visit any good book retailer or follow these links –

 
Happy reading,
Jenny xx

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