My Life In Books ~ talking to author Jenny Blackhurst

My Life in Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox

I've invited authors to share with us a list of books that are special to them and have made a lasting impression on their life

I met Jenny Blackhurst!
Crime in the Court, Summer 2015

I'm so pleased to welcome Jenny Blackhurst to Random Things today. Jenny is the author of How I Lost You which was published by Headline in April last year.  

I really enjoyed How I Lost You, you can read my full review by clicking on the title, here's a little taster ...

"Tense and clever and absolutely exhausting, How I Lost You is an incredibly good read. Jenny Blackhurst's plot is scintillating and tense ....."

Jenny's second novel, Before I Let You In will be published as an ebook on 8 September 2016, the paperback will follow on 3 November.

My Life In Books ~Jenny Blackhurst

The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton  To me, the concept that writers must be superheroes was a belief held from a very young age it was The Faraway Tree series that cemented that belief for me. Who but a superhero could transport you to an enchanted wood filled with new magical friends, from the land of Take-What-You-Want to the land of terrible Dame Slap. I took great pleasure in reading these to my son recently and he loved them every bit as much as I did.

Sweet Valley High  Didn't every girl want to be Jessica Wakefield? Or to have her sister Elizabeth as their best friend? I was eleven years old when the SVH series did the rounds, so while I might not have understood everything about the teenagers lives (I was a very innocent 11 year old) it was this series that kick-started my writing career. My friend and I were given time away from our English lessons to write our own series complete with teenage heartthrobs - I think I still have them in the loft somewhere.

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell   And so began my foray into crime. I borrowed these books as a young girl from my aunty, one at a time like a library lending service.

I waited desperately for a weekend when I could swap my finished book for the next in the series. As an adult, I bought myself the whole series as a reward for being a grown up.

Strangers by Dean Koontz   What happened at the Tranquillity Motel that was so terrible that it can't stay erased from the minds of the strangers? For me it was more about the journey than the arrival and Koontz knows how to pack for one hell of a trip. My copy of this book is so battered that I recently replaced it - although I can't bring myself to throw the original away.

Total Eclipse by Liz Rigbey   This was one of the first books with a 'twist' I ever read and it floored me. In today's standards it might not be considered shocking but at the time I knew that the reaction I had to this was what I wanted to give other people, over a decade later and I can still feel the moment the penny dropped! So good I might read it again tonight.

Breakheart Hill by T H Cook  With one of the best opening lines I have ever read this story of a shocking murder in a small town stayed with me long after I turned the last page. Cook's prose takes you on a journey with his characters so consuming that you'll be able to feel the heat in the summer air and smell the grass under your feet from your sofa.

Pig Island by Mo Hayder   And if the previous books nudged me towards crime, Pig Island shoved me into it and locked the door behind me. From the start I was swept up in this story of the feckless reporter Joe who chases the story of devil worship and strange happenings on a remote Scottish Island where the infamous cult leader Malachy Dove is rumoured to be hiding away. Joe and Malachy have history and where this story goes left me staggered. I read it again last year to see if it still had the same effect as a fully grown up grown up. It does.

Jenny Blackhurst ~ April 2016

Jenny Blackhurst grew up in Shropshire where she still lives with her husband and children.
Growing up, she spent hours reading and talking about crime novels ~ writing her own seemed like a natural progression.

Follow her on Twitter @JennyBlackhurst

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