Jan Needle's Blog
April 13, 2016
History on the hoof...
The historic history festival is about to get underway, but the book of mine which is up for grabs in the competition - Death Order - only goes back to World War II.
Most of my historic work so far is nautical, although the most recent is a short adventure about Napoleon's supposed attempt to escape from St Helena in a submarine. Crazy though that sounds, there's lot of evidence that it was actually attempted, instigated by an American inventor and an Irish smuggler.
At the minute I'm halfway through a third short book about Nelson - his early sex life! - and I have another short strand about a young chap called Charlie Raven - two books so far - who's going to get in a lorra, lorra trouble.
Then of course, with Walker Books, theer's my translation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, plus a shortened Dracula and a retold Woman in White.
History - I love it!
Most of my historic work so far is nautical, although the most recent is a short adventure about Napoleon's supposed attempt to escape from St Helena in a submarine. Crazy though that sounds, there's lot of evidence that it was actually attempted, instigated by an American inventor and an Irish smuggler.
At the minute I'm halfway through a third short book about Nelson - his early sex life! - and I have another short strand about a young chap called Charlie Raven - two books so far - who's going to get in a lorra, lorra trouble.
Then of course, with Walker Books, theer's my translation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, plus a shortened Dracula and a retold Woman in White.
History - I love it!
March 21, 2016
I'm no lady
Try as I might, I can't get Goodreads to accept that I'm a male.
I can only tell you it's my mother's fault. She KNEW I was going to be a little sister for her daughter Valerie, and when I wasn't she just gave me two initials that - with N for Needle - added up to Jan.
I've tried all I know to get the computer to change my gender, but unfortunately I know very little! So you'll have to put up with me being female, despite that fact that even my mother disapproved mightily of some of the content!
That's life though, innit?
My two latest books are very definitely in the male gender spectrum. The Bonus Boys (Endeavour Press) is a political thriller that is pretty violent in parts, and certainly uncompromising. The historical one, Undertaker's Wind, is also gritty in the extreme, but this time with the added dimension of blood and violence in the slave-trade era.
Both, however, feature extremely strong female characters alongside the men, and all of my constant readers, family and friends, think they put the female point of view very strongly.
As to myself, I can merely hope. And curse (in the mildest sort of way!) my poor old mother...
I can only tell you it's my mother's fault. She KNEW I was going to be a little sister for her daughter Valerie, and when I wasn't she just gave me two initials that - with N for Needle - added up to Jan.
I've tried all I know to get the computer to change my gender, but unfortunately I know very little! So you'll have to put up with me being female, despite that fact that even my mother disapproved mightily of some of the content!
That's life though, innit?
My two latest books are very definitely in the male gender spectrum. The Bonus Boys (Endeavour Press) is a political thriller that is pretty violent in parts, and certainly uncompromising. The historical one, Undertaker's Wind, is also gritty in the extreme, but this time with the added dimension of blood and violence in the slave-trade era.
Both, however, feature extremely strong female characters alongside the men, and all of my constant readers, family and friends, think they put the female point of view very strongly.
As to myself, I can merely hope. And curse (in the mildest sort of way!) my poor old mother...
