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My publications |
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| After 30 years of writing this is quite a long page! Section links are provided above to reduce scrolling time should you wish to use them. |
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| Currently available |
To whet your appetite you can read both a synopsis and an extract of each book by clicking on the relevant headings beneath each cover illustration (opens in a new window). Reviews of these titles can be found on Reviews page. |
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Heart of Stone |
Bonded Heart |
Devil's Prize |
The Chain Garden |
Dangerous Waters |
Tide of Fortune |
Eye of the Wind |
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Synopsis
Excerpt
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A Place of Birds |
The Iron Road |
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| Background & previous titles |
My first book, a mystery, was prompted by a nightmare. It took three years to research and write. Accepted by Robert Hale in 1976, Deadly Feast (reprinted twice and still available in Large Print at libraries) launched a career that, despite peaks and troughs, has never been less than totally absorbing.
Having always loved romantic historical fiction, I chose to set my next two books in Victorian Cornwall with a seafaring background. The central characters were young women who, daring to challenge society's rules and risking everything to do what they believed was right, found their courage rewarded with love. Harlyn Tremayne, and The Consul's Daughter, were also reprinted in several different editions, and are still available in Large Print from libraries, and in the 'new and used' section on Amazon.
During difficult times I had derived great comfort and pleasure from reading stories published by Mills & Boon. So I thought I'd like to have a go at writing one. (Bold or what?) It seemed to me that the best way to break into this very demanding market was not to try and compete against the contemporary bestsellers, but to aim instead for the smaller medical romance list. Having worked in our local hospital as a medical records clerk, I was familiar with medical terminology. But as I wanted my stories to be slightly different, I decided to make both my hero and heroine doctors, and to set my stories in exotic locations where resourcefulness would be needed to counter the lack of modern medical facilities. This scenario also offered wonderful opportunities for emotional conflict, as well as life-or-death situations involving the weather and terrain, plus hostility from the local people. |
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My efforts paid off. My first medical romance, Desert Flower, written as Dana James was published in 1983. This was followed by three more, set respectively in Papua New Guinea, The Andes and Hong Kong. I then moved to the contemporary list and wrote a further nine. Published in 22 countries and 19 languages, sales in the US alone topped ten million. Five titles, Heart of Glass, Pool of Dreaming, Love's Ransom, Snowfire and Doctor in the Andes have recently been reprinted in Large Print editions by GK Hall/Chivers in the UK and US. |
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My next novel, A Place of Birds, written as Jane Jackson, began in Cornwall and moved to Shanghai. This was the story of a girl who, escaping from her repressive Quaker family, joins her two missionary cousins on their voyage to China. After traumatic events, culminating in the death of one cousin during an attack on the mission, she finds lasting happiness with a notorious schooner captain disowned by his wealthy father for refusing to trade in opium.
I followed that with The Iron Road, a book based on the building of a railway branch line in 1860s Cornwall: a cross-cultural love story involving four people that contrasted the lives of those who actually constructed the line – the engineers, the navies and their women - with the owner of the land the line would cross, and members of the railway company who put profit above safety.
These two books sold out in four and two months respectively. As well as being published in Large Print library editions by Magna, in 2002 they were published as a 2-book-in-1 volume paperback by Pan Macmillan. Meanwhile, I was delighted to be one of two women contributors to the naval anthology Mammoth Book of Men o' War. My first story, The Enemy Within appeared in Volume One – Stories from the Glory Days of Sail. A second story, The Gauntlet, appeared in Volume Two - Hearts of Oak. |
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For Eye of the Wind, published in 2001 and shortlisted for the Parker Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2002, I went back in time to a small Cornish estate and boatyard during the Napoleonic Wars. The story links the betrayal of Lord Roland Stratton while on a secret government mission to Melissa Tregonning's desperate efforts to keep the boatyard running and pay off debts while protecting her father's name and reputation. This book also sold out within two months, and was reprinted.
Dangerous Waters reached the top 20 out of 197 entries for the Parker Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2007
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| Audiobooks |
Eye of the Wind, The Iron Road and A Place of Birds are also published as audiobooks, narrated by Patricia Gallimore, and are available from Soundings. |
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| Bibliography |
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- 1978 DEADLY FEAST (mystery) as Jane Collier Robert Hale & Magna Large Print
available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com [Large Print Editions]
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As Dana James for Harlequin Mills & Boon: |
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- 1983 DESERT FLOWER (Egypt)
- 1983 DR IN NEW GUINEA (Papua New Guinea)
- 1984 DR IN THE ANDES (Ecuador) available from Amazon.com [Large Print]
- 1985 ROUGH WATERS (Hong Kong)
- 1986 THE MARATI LEGACY (Madagascar) available from Amazon.com
- 1987 THE EAGLE & THE SUN (Mexico) available from Amazon.com
- 1987 HEART OF GLASS (Cornwall) available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com [Large Print Editions]
- 1988 TARIK'S MOUNTAIN (Gibraltar) available from Amazon.com
- 1988 POOL OF DREAMING (Cornwall) available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com [Large Print Editions]
- 1989 LOVE'S RANSOM (Caribbean) available from Amazon.co.uk [Large Print] and Amazon.com
- 1989 SNOWFIRE (Iceland) available from Amazon.co.uk [Large Print] and Amazon.com
- 1990 DARK MOON RISING (Turkey) available from Amazon.com
- 1991 A TEMPTING SHORE (Cornwall)
- 1993 BAY OF RAINBOWS (Mediterranean)
- 2001/2 HEART OF GLASS, POOL OF DREAMING, & LOVE'S RANSOM were published by GK Hall/Chivers in Large Print, in The United States and the UK.
- 2003 SNOWFIRE published by Thorndike/Chivers in Large Print in the United States and the UK - Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk
- 2005 DOCTOR IN THE ANDES published by Dales Large Print in the UK - Amazon.co.uk
- 2006 ROUGH WATERS (Hong Kong and the China Seas) published by Thorndike/Chivers Large Print in the United States and the UK
- 2006 DOCTOR IN NEW GUINEA (Papua New Guinea) published by Dales Large Print in the UK - Amazon.co.uk
- 2006 DESERT FLOWER (Egypt) published by Dales Large Print in the UK - Amazon.co.uk
- 2007 BAY OF RAINBOWS (Mediterranean) published by Chivers Large Print in the UK
- 2007 A TEMPTING SHORE (Cornwall) published by Chivers Large Print in the UK COMING SOON!
- THE MARATI LEGACY (Diving for treasure off Madagascar) published by Chivers Large Print in the UK
- DARK MOON RISING (Earthquake in Turkish mountains) published by Chivers Large Print in the UK
Several of the above titles are available via Amazon.com Used Books, and Barnes & Noble's Out of Print Book Service.
Longer historical romantic fiction:
- 1984 HARLYN TREMAYNE William Kimber & Magna Large Print - available from Amazon.co.uk [Large Print] and Amazon.com
- 1986 THE CONSUL'S DAUGHTER William Kimber & Magna Large Print - available from Amazon.com [Large Print]
- 1997 A PLACE OF BIRDS Robert Hale - available from Amazon.co.uk [Large Print]
- 1999 THE IRON ROAD Robert Hale - available from Amazon.co.uk [Large Print]
- 2001 EYE OF THE WIND Robert Hale - available from Amazon.co.uk
- 2004 TIDE OF FORTUNE Robert Hale - available from Amazon.co.uk [Large Print edition available from Amazon.co.uk ]
- 2006 - DANGEROUS WATERS Robert Hale - available from Amazon.co.uk [also available in Magna Large Print]
- 2006 - THE CHAIN GARDEN Robert Hale - available from Amazon.co.uk [also available in Magna Large Print]
- 2008 - DEVIL'S PRIZE Robert Hale - available from Amazon.co.uk and Falmouth Book Seller
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