Blog Post: Who is Jane Gilley?

I love meeting, getting to know, and introducing you all to wonderful, exciting new authors, and today is no exception! Check it out... 

 
This is me, Jane Gilley...
 
 
My first foray into writing came when I wrote a poem at 7.
 
                        Night is drawing in
                        And the day has lost its din
                        And while we sleep
                        The animals creep
                        And hunt for food
                        In their hungry mood
 
I couldn’t stop writing when I was a nipper. I wrote wherever my pen could make its mark and especially at the back of my school exercise books. The lady who taught maths, in junior school, even asked if I wanted more paper to write on!
 
But life has a way of taking over and guiding you down its own path. Hence my initial foray into writing was dampened by society’s usual requirements of getting married and working to pay the mortgage, whereby I simply didn’t have the time to sit, tapping away at my computer to my heart’s content. But when I managed to start writing again in 2008; when publishers were telling me they didn’t want any more animal fiction, I self-published 6 children’s books – 5 animal adventures, which I sold at Durrell’s Jersey Zoo – and I had a book signing at Waterstones with a novella for young girls, Maisie’s Dream. All still for sale on Kindle.

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​With my children’s books localised French / Jersey themes, I was invited by 3 of the primary schools here and on the tiny channel island of Herm to give talks to the school children, about where I found the inspiration for my stories.
 
Since becoming self-employed, I’ve been able to step back and concentrate on writing adult fiction. Avon, Harper Collins published my debut book, The Woman Who Kept Everything – about an elderly lady who rediscovers what life has to offer after an electrical fault in her house threatens a fire, followed by The Afternoon Tea Club – about 4 very different people who meet at a community afternoon tea club and put their worlds to right, after becoming friends.
 

During 2020 and with PLENTY of time to spare, I wrote 2 new books, which I self-published this year on Kindle – both under adult fiction:
 
The Making of Robert Moony – an unusual, funny, heart-felt tale about a 27 yr old bullied man who finally finds love and acceptance in life, after he is kidnapped by mistake
 
County Lines Road – about 2 teenagers whose lives are turned upside down when a joyride goes horribly wrong and they are dragged away to a gang-house by drugs dealers and have to find a way to escape as well as protecting their families from the gang’s threat of retaliation.
 
All my books are always quirky, uplifting tales about new beginnings and have happy endings!

​Learn more about Jane's books... 
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Robert has no friends. His mother invited herself to stay with him for a few months and has never left. He hates his job and is beginning to wonder what life REALLY has in store for him.
 
But his life is about to change in a shocking act of mistaken identity, proving that friends and love can be found in the most unlikely of places . . .

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Next-door-neighbours, Karen and Terri, have always tried to do right by their errant kinds. But when a simple joyride goes horribly wrong and Tomas and Jodie are captured by a county lines drug gang, they’re not sure who to turn to.
 
Dragged away to the gang’s suburban lair will the two teenagers find the strength to escape?
 
And even if they do escape, how can they protect their mums and everyone else they love from the gang’s threat of retaliation?

Grab your copies here!

The Author...

Taking time off from writing, author Jane Gilley, can usually be found walking along the beaches or reservoirs in the Channel Island of Jersey, where she lives with her husband Chris and Senegal parrot, Solly. Writing was always in her blood, starting with poetry when she was seven, followed by freelance magazine and newspaper articles, as well as two plays and six children’s books when she found time. “I write various uplifting genres with gentle humour, yet the theme for my adult books is my interest in how life can suddenly change direction because of unexpected circumstances. It’s happened to me!”  She loves the research as much as the writing and she has done several writing courses.  Well-travelled, she often uses the places she’s visited as backdrops to her stories – especially in her children’s books. Her debut women’s fiction, The Woman Who Kept Everything was a best seller in 2019. She has written three more books since then, The Afternoon Tea Club, The Making of Robert Moony and County Lines Road.
 
You can find out more about Jane at www.janegilley.com