TODAY’S THE DAY!
Today I launch my very first #cosycrime novel.
Manuscript Mysteries at The Robin Hood Club
A real labour of love, this novel is the first in a series of mysteries, led by Hari Danby and her best friend Dot.
Blurb
A brand new cosy crime series! Welcome to the Robin Hood Club!
There’s great excitement when a previously undiscovered Robin Hood ballad manuscript, Robin Hood and the Carter, turns up in the same town as the Robin Hood Club’s latest fan convention.
But the Robin Hood Club’s special guest – Harriet, “Hari”, Danby, writer and creator of the hit TV series, Return to Sherwood – can’t help thinking the discovery is rather too coincidental.
With her best friend, Dot, at her side, Hari finds herself taken out of her quiet writing life and catapulted into a world of enthusiastic fans, actors egos, and jealous fellow authors.
As the Robin Hood Club event gets underway, speculation about the new ballad grows… and then Hari notices that one of the Robin Hood Club’s most devoted followers has gone missing…
Available from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon AU
For me this novel has been a particularly special venture for three reasons.
First of all, I love reading and writing crime fiction. The Folville Chronicles – a much darker set of crime/mystery novels – was huge fun to write. I’ve really missed creating the style of plotlines you need to weave when writing felonious fiction. So, when the idea came to me to write a cosy crime book, I was determined to go for it. (Okay, so I had the idea in 2017 – but I’ve only just had time to do anything about it!)
Secondly, this is the first time I’ve deliberately aimed to self publish a book. (All my other self published work has previously been with a publisher, and has only been self published once the rights of the story had reverted to me.) It has been a massive learning curve, and I’ve a long way to go before I fully know what I’m doing. In fact, it is safe to say the book wouldn’t have made it into the world without the expert help of both Suzanne Fox and Lucy Felthouse – their advice and formatting skills have been beyond price.
After years of working with either indie or traditional publishers, it’s been both liberating and terrifying having to do everything myself. Yet, the experience has been fun and – hopefully – it will be rewarding. I’ll only find that out if people buy and like the story!
Finally – the most important reason of all for writing this book is simple.
My time as a writer for Robin of Sherwood will come to an end towards the end of this year.
Today is the 40th anniversary of the best television of all time (in my opinion anyway). Previous posts on this blog talk about my passion for the show, and how lucky I am to have been picked to be the main writer for the audio scripts /novelisations that have been commissioned over the past few years. (One day I might get used to the fact that I’ve been told I write like my hero – Richard Carpenter – but in all honesty, I’m never going to believe it.)
Although my work for RoS has always been undertaken for love not financial reward, it has taken centre stage in my life for a very long time. All my other work is instantly shelved every time the call comes to write – and I do not regret a second of it. How could I? I was being asked to put words – literally – into the mouths of my heroes and heroines. As I said to my friend, prouder, director, and all round nice guy, Barnaby Eaton-Jones the other day – “Robin of Sherwood is the jam in our sponge.”.
Now – with only a few stories left to write for my Robin’s (I loved them both – Loxley and Huntingdon), I have a void in my life to fill. What better way to fill that gap, than by using the experiences I gained during this heady/crazy/fun/ sometimes heart breaking/amazing, unmissable experience to write new works of fiction?
So – WELCOME TO THE ROBIN HOOD CLUB…. and yes, it will be an actual club – and you will be able to join it – but be patient, because I’ve a lot of books to write, scripts to create and – hopefully – a few more smiles to put on the faces of Robin of Sherwood fans first….
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Manuscript Mysteries is available across ALL Amazon sites (including those shown below), as an ebook from today. A paperback version will be available very soon.
Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon AU
Happy reading everyone,
Jenny.
PS – If you read this novel – or any of my work – and enjoy it, please could you pop a review on Amazon. Every time a book gets a review of 4 or 5 stars, it raises my profile on Amazon and that, in turn, leads to more sales – which helps pay the bills!!
