Janey Louise Jones
About Author
Janey Louise Jones was born in Edinburgh. She and her sister Victoria grew up by the seaside in Musselburgh, East Lothian just outside Edinburgh.
She fell in love with reading when she was very young, and adored listening to her mother reading traditional fairy stories like Cinderella and Snow White. Her love of ballet meant she was fascinated by the stories behind Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker, and reading Noel Streatfields classic story Ballet Shoes. With her rural upbringing she loved immersing herself in James Herriots All Creatures Great and Small series. She was a voracious reader and remembers moving on to novels designed for adults when she was a young teenager.
Shes always wanted to be a writer, always loved flowers, always wanted to be a Princess, and always wanted to be called Poppy. All of this lead to the creation of her beautiful Poppy books.
Janey created and published the first two Poppy books herself. Random House Childrens Books was delighted to acquire Janeys stories and team her up with illustrator Veronica Vasylenko in 2006. Janey is still a little girl at heart and strongly believes in fairies and that dreams can come true. Shed love to live where Poppy lives in Honeypot Hill, wheres theres time for making things and having fun.
Some of the stories she writes are inspired by her own childhood and others by experiences shes had as a mother. When she was little Janey used to make petal perfume for her mother, help her sister with her pony and dress up, and so these are the things Poppy and her friend Honey do together.
After going to school in Edinburgh, Janey studied English at Edinburgh University, specialising in the Victorian novel. She considered a career in journalism, but after a stint of work experience at a newspaper decided that shes rather become a teacher. She loved everything about teaching from the preparation through to working with children in the classroom. She very much enjoys visiting schools now and talking to children to find out what they like doing and what makes them laugh, and finds her teacher training background comes in useful.
Janey has three sons, and she and her husband look after them together. She writes in the family kitchen, whilst the boys are at school and again in the evening once theyre in bed, and looks out to the garden to watch the birds and squirrels. Janey reads aloud to the boys as she wants them to find the same pleasure in books as she had.
The Princess Poppy series was launched in March 2006 with 4 storybooks, since then RHCB have published 2 lavish gift books, Activity books and several Book and CD and Book and Dvd editions. There are now five Princess Poppy fiction titles. The latest in the Princess Poppy series is Princess Poppy Snowflake released October 2008. Coming soon is Princess Poppy Fairytale Princess, set to be published in March 2009.
Janey lives in East Lothian with her family and is available for interview.
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