Category Archives: Alderney

January 30, 2025 · 11:02 am

What’s in a Title : Janus ~ Gateway to Heaven on Earth

Janus ~ Gateway to Heaven on Earth by Patricia and Arthur Jackson, was released last week.

MY PARENT’S RESEARCH INTO OUR FAMILY HISTORY

My parents began to write their novella at the same time as I was writing my debut novel Riduna. Having done a great deal of research into our family tree, they chose two main characters, who intrigued them. Harriet is Dad’s grandmother:

  1. Harriet’s step-grandfather John Taylor is their main character, because they wanted to find out why a Scotsman ended up living on the island of Alderney in the guest house where my Dad’s grandmother was brought up.
  2. Harry, Harriet’s father was born in London and so what journey brought him to the island too?
Victorian Alderney

Thus, this story is part truth, part fiction, as my parents unravelled our family history, visiting London, Liverpool, Alderney, Guernsey and Southampton in their quest.

While my parents gathered their lengthy research I was researching my great grandmother Harrriet’s story. I was fascinated by all I discovered about the island of Alderney back in the Victorian era, at the time when the many forts were built around the island.

Great Grandmother Harriet

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Filed under Alderney, Channel Islands, Family History, Historical Fiction, History of Alderney, Riduna

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January 23, 2025 · 9:57 am

New Release Today: Janus ~ Gateway to Heaven on Earth

I’m delighted that this novella is released today: Janus ~ Gateway to Heaven on Earth by Patricia and Arthur Jackson

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Dear readers, this announcement is close to my heart and the first book I have had published since I lost my parents during Covid.

Eventispress are releasing this novella as a tribute to my parents, the authors, edited by myself in recent months. It was originally published by The Daily Mail in one of their offers, and we have permission to republish it.

For me it is a prequel to my Riduna Series. Here is the blurb:

“In 1857, was it fate that brought John Taylor, a Scotsman and corporal in the army, from the north east of Inverness to the island of Alderney? Was it another stroke of serendipity when Harry Hopkins, a nipper on the Heresa, sailed towards the island too? Their lives became intertwined with a small family who ran a hostelry and guest house, but was it love for two islanders Hannah and Elizabeth, or the magic of Alderney itself, which made them return to make Alderney their home, even if just for a little while?“

The majority of the novella is set on Alderney, one of the smaller Channel Islands, UK. The strange thing is that it begins in Scotland, in Aberdeenshire, north of where I now live in Fife.

The e book will be released shortly.

All profits will go to the Alderney Museum.

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Filed under Alderney, Book launch, Channel Islands, Riduna, Scotland

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December 5, 2024 · 11:26 am

My Review of 2024 in my Writing Life

On the Positive Side

  • I am writing again. Hoorah! It took a long time coming. I have completed the first draft of my sequel to MISSING Past and Present, and will begin to proof read it thoroughly before it goes to the editor. Hopefully to be released mid 2025.
  • Janus, Gateway to Heaven on Earth by my parents, Patricia and Arthur Jackson, is scheduled to be released on 23rd January 2025. It has been a special project for me, having lost both parents during covid, because it is being rereleased as a tribute to them (originally printed by The Daily Mail), with edits from myself, and will be sold in aid of The Alderney Museum. It is actually a prequel to my debut novel Riduna which was first published in 2009. So long ago.
  • Through Eventispress I have been supporting other writers, who have become my dear friends, too numerous to name here. Eventispress has a new Facebook Page. Do search for ‘Eventispress’ and like the page please. (I’m the only person to have done so and I need some friends! They have a good few followers now though) There are some excellent authors to support here and it is getting harder than ever to get this message across.

On the Negative Side

  • The first two projects have taken longer than we thought, but I hope the wait will be worth it and it is sooooo good to be writing again.
  • I have done very little personal promotional work and, like many, am finding Twitter hard to handle now. It’s just not enjoyable anymore. Should I jump ship and go to Bluesky? Many authors have. More about that in the new year.

Nothing else, which is fantastic!

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Filed under Alderney, Author Diana Jackson, MISSING Past and Present, Writing, Writing a novel

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