Mystery

J.J. Hughes was born in Cottingley, a quaint little village in West Yorkshire, UK. Her grandfather Arthur Shackleton [was related to Sir Ernest Shackleton, the polar explorer] – but the furthest grand-dad travelled, perhaps, was up the road to the men-only social club, but then he rose early and worked long and hard and filled the house with the amazing aromas of freshly baked cakes and bread, so could not be kneading dough and adventuring at the same time.
J.J. Hughes parents Margaret and Arnold Simpson lived with her grandfather above the shop, the house was large, old and rambling with a proliferation of attics and spider-filled cellars, if you cared to look closely – generally the author did not, preferring to spend her time playing catch, hop-scotch and the like in the cobbled streets, catching minnows in the beck [a small stream] or swimming beneath the waterfall which is famous for fairies, after two local girls [Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths] photographed them in 1917 [Or did they?]. Subsequently the photo’s proved to be fake, and this inspired a movie called ‘Fairy Tale: A True Story’ which starred Peter O’Toole playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [the creator/author of Sherlock Holmes.] He was taken in by the hoax, but then again to this day J.J.Hughes believes in elves/fairies/mermaids/unicorns and all things Elemental and Other Worldly.
Nearby to Cottingley is the author’s Favourite Place: think Hovis ad’s, steam trains, cobbled streets, try Tetleys real ale in Haworth, which is famous for the wild moors and the Bronte sisters – who wrote ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘Jane Eyre’ which are two of her Favourite Novels , along with ‘Pride and Prejudice’ [Jane Austen] and ‘Gone with the Wind’ [Margaret Mitchell]. Feisty heroines and fill-their-boots heroes, win hands down every time?
From her early teens J.J Hughes was a passionate horse owner and regularly competed in Affiliated junior showjumping competitions. In it’s day West Yorkshire produced a lot of England’s top show jumpers, true Northern grit we guess? Or where there’s horse muck, there’s brass! In her debut novel ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ there’s an Olympic gold medal event horse called Gothic [aka Gothic novels, a much- loved genre] and his feisty owner/rider Juliet Jermaine. Age 17 the author wrote a humorous pony novel which was bashed out on a neon orange little typewriter [thank heavens for Word Processors, spell checking] and bye-bye Tippex and White-Out. Some things disappear and are not mourned or missed.
J. J. Hughes was blessed and inspired by two incredible English teachers, [ who back then were a husband and wife team] Paddy and Vanda, and thanks to Paddy, a brilliant photographer [a passionate, Irish man with big beard, bowler hat and rather eccentric black flowing cape] she developed a life- long love of film as a medium. Later, after leaving school, she studied English/American Literature with Film Studies at the University of East Anglia [U.E.A.] Norwich, and subsequently an MA in Creative Writing at Surrey University.
Career wise, after a year or so teaching English abroad, she accidentally landed a job in the City of London in an Investment Bank – how this came about let alone endured… this is still a mystery to all concerned. Later after three amazing children came along, she quit the City and headed for the Surrey Hills and trained as a Life Coach and Passion Test Facilitator, and went on to co-author a No 1 Best Selling Spiritual self- help book called ‘Inspired by the Passion Test’ and in the vein of giving back all profits go to charity. More about the green energy of Giving Money in her next planned self-help book: ‘Pursing the Passion,’ which is about how to get clear on your Life Purpose and annex your Passions and Values to make money and earn extra income doing what you love….
J.J Hughes is passionate about horses, the paranormal, New Age spirituality, self-development, travel, karma and reincarnation, crime… justice… in no particular order. She has had numerous prophetic premonitions – usually about death, which so far despite a few close shaves she has escaped.[Pinch test just to check she’s still alive – yes that hurt!] She came to believe in reincarnation in her mid-twenties when her old horse Red made a re-appearance, this time as a palomino called Hooray Henry. Sometimes when we don’t get the ending right or learn the lessons they boomerang right back and bite us on the ass. Quite literally in Red’s case as he was one mean S.O.B – a bad-tempered, hot-headed sort who would not only bite the devoted hay-bearers but also kick them on the way out too!
Now, having survived the loving attentions of various equines, and a serious riding accident requiring airlifting into A+E plus a long stint in a wheel chair, the author has finally hung up her spurs as it were. She’s an experienced Coach/Mentor, Passion Test Facilitator and Soul Re-alignment specialist and topics currently piquing her interest are Spirituality and Science where she’s hoping to see more inter-disciplinary co-operation, to solve the great remaining mysteries of life including man’s origins. On that note she’s keen on Panspermia – the theory of life being seeded from outer space. She’s mighty curious about Aliens – when will they come out of the closets – and what are the ethical, moral and other massive implications of A.I. and Robots? Will the FANGS [Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google..sorts] colonise Mars – will we get all the plastic out of the seas? Will humanity swap hugs and harmony for mass destruction? Guess where my sequel novel is going – it starts with psychic CID Rosetta Barrett and Juliet Jermaine [the victim] packing up camp on the Apache Indian Reservation where they left off in ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ and heading out on a road trip along the Alien Highway and heading for Area 51…..
Happy UFO spotting y’all…..