Brief Bio:

Born in 1958, Jenny-Anne Fennell visited the local mobile library twice weekly during her childhood: once with school and once to choose books for her parents, neither of whom could get there for themselves. She grew up surrounded by books and, in different circumstances, might have followed a writing path straight away. But life intervened, as it often does.

She left school with few qualifications and worked in a succession of clerical roles, the last of which was as a community library assistant, a job she left for the birth of her first daughter. When her second daughter started school, she began studying again and, over many years, gained the qualifications to become an English Literature teacher. She had completed creative writing courses too, though her focus was largely poetry, which she loved teaching.

Later, she returned to university to complete a master’s degree in creative writing. The opening of Mute Swans began as her dissertation. Life intervened once more, and it was several years before the story was finished. She submitted it to agents and received encouraging feedback, but was told the novel wasn’t in a genre that would sell as a debut. She was advised to write something else and keep Mute Swans for later.

It was good advice, but after spending years finishing the novel, she decided to take a break and do something completely different. She began to learn dressmaking online during the COVID lockdown. She knew no one locally who shared her interest, and so started a small Facebook group. It gradually grew into regular social meet-ups, and eventually, the group was fortunate enough to be offered café space in their local Waterstones.

Surrounded by books once again, her writing spark quietly returned. Mute Swans was rescued, re-edited, and self-published. She is now writing her next novel, a literary crime-suspense story, and is enjoying this new phase of her writing life.