Jenn Ashworth, an author from Preston, has released her fourth book after the success of her previous three novels.
“Fell”, published by Sceptre earlier this year, is set in Morecambe Bay and tells a haunting mysterious tale of Annette Clifford returning to her childhood home and awakening the spirits of her parents who long to make amends with her.
Jenn, who was brought up mainly in Broadgate, Preston, started writing from a young age and would write every day in a journal that she kept until her late twenties.
She said: “Thinking about journals and the different ways we record and narrate our experiences started me thinking about writing fiction – most of my novels are written in the first person and are about people narrating their own lives with varying degrees of reliability and success.”
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Jenn studied at Runshaw College, Leyland, where she had a very happy time with hugely supportive teachers, before heading off to University and later going on to write her other novels A Kind of Intimacy, Cold Light, and The Friday Gospels.
Her writing has also been inspired by places in Preston, including her second novel, Cold Light, which was set entirely in a kind of surreal and made-odd version of Preston.
Jenn spoke about places in Preston she would recommend visiting: “I think it would have to be the parks – they are beautiful at all times of year. I’m also a huge fan of the bus station – I think it’s a fascinating building.
“I wrote an interactive novel set there with my friend Richard Hirst that anyone can look at here: www.curious-tales.com/bus-station-unbound.html”
Jenn believes to be a writer it is highly important to read, including better writers than yourself and different kinds of books that you might not want to write.
She advised aspiring writers: “To read – every day.
“If you don’t like something, work out why. If you do, try to see how it is put together.
“You might end up taking a writing course (I did, and I teach on one now) but it isn’t essential and isn’t the only way to learn how to write.
“I meet a lot of people who want to write who don’t actually read that much – I find that very strange.”
Jenn hopes to write more novels in the future, and already has an idea for one that she is looking forward to starting soon.
You can buy Fell, along with Jenn’s other novels, online at www.jennashworth.co.uk/writing/fell/
Have you read Fell or any of Jenn’s books? Let us know in the comments below