Jan McCarthy

Jan McCarthy's first success was with ghost story 'Red Branwen', which made her one of 12 finalists for the Asham Literary Award 2011 (see 'Something Was There' pub. Little, Brown). She is now the author of 19 books. Visit her website: www.janmccarthyauthor.com

Her 'Rainbow Tales' series for children draws on her background in English teaching for SATs and GCSE. These, and 'Blue Bear Tales' for young readers were written in response to a request from the children of a friend.

She has two poetry collections in print: 'At A Distance' and 'Learning to Laugh' and a short story anthology 'It Came From Inside Her Head'. Her poetry and short stories have been published in several anthologies and e-zines.

Her love of garden gnomes has produced an outpouring of humorous eco-magical realism novels: 'The Gnome Trilogy' - 'The Great and the Small', 'A Trick of the Light' and 'The Time of the Rains' - their sequel 'Flittermouse or The Travels of Bron Blackthorn', 'Revenge of the Gnomes', 'A Confusion of Gnomes' and her apocalyptic 'The Great International Gnome Festival'.

In spring 2018 'The Secret Diaries of Sian Brigbeck' joined the bookshelf: the dark tale of a woman who sabotages her own creativity until a sinister alter ego she has light-heartedly created as a character in one of her attempts at a novel takes over her life.