AUTHOR


ABOUT ME

My name is Alyson Mountjoy, (née Roberts for those who know me by that name). I was lucky enough to grow up in Gowerton, a small town near Swansea in South Wales which was, at that time, still a village; a special place full of warm, kind people and happy memories. I completed my honours degree in Welsh at the University of Wales in Swansea, between the sea and the park which I love, and spent those happy years with good friends. Having moved around a lot since then, I gained many years’ experience in administration in the NHS and local government, and in supporting children with additional needs. I used this experience to then become a writer and desktop publisher of educational literacy resources and fiction for children aged 5-16, and horror fiction for young adults. It was years later that I started writing my first novel.


ALL CHANGE

In 2012 everything changed for me. Having taken voluntary redundancy and needing a change of pace and direction, I retrained as a complementary therapist. I am now a fully qualified Reiki Master Practitioner, Reiki Master Teacher and Crystal Therapist, and I spend my days combining this new passion with my lifelong love of writing. I'm finally living the life I always dreamed about, along with my beloved family, pets, like-minded companions and dear friends. Doing what I love and spending time with the important people in my life has brought me the peace and happiness that I have always sought. I am grateful for the privilege, and for their support. Life is far too short to settle for anything less than your dreams.

WHY I WRITE

The answer is simple: I write because I love it. I've been writing poetry since I was old enough to use a pencil, and I remember keeping little red note-books with my poems in. By the time my first poem was published at 7 in "The Western Mail" newspaper, I was hooked. Soon I progressed to writing stories using a blue, toy typewriter, my all-time favourite Christmas present as a child, almost identical to the one shown opposite). It helped so much to learn to type, because my handwriting was dreadful (it still is today). In my teens I acquired a real, second-hand one, the very old sort which you needed to hammer to make the keys leave an impression on the paper. It certainly explains my heavy-handed typing style, even now. Later I bought an electronic one, then a computer, but whatever the medium, the writing continued. Many years ago, I told a friend that I wanted to be a writer, so she told me to just go home and write. It was then that I realised that I was already a writer, and had been all my life. That's all it takes; if writing is what you want to do, just do it, and don't let anyone stop you. The same applies to anything else that you dream of doing. If life gets in the way for a while, like it did for me, it’s never too late to start again.

HOW "THE MARLIN CHRONICLES" BEGAN

Authors are advised to write what they know. So, having had many unusual experiences in my life of the paranormal variety (easily enough to fill several books on their own), rather than writing a straightforward autobiography I chose to combine them with fiction, to create a semi-autobiographical alter-ego who became the heroine of my books: Stephanie Meares.


"The Marlin Chronicles" series all began with an incident that happened to me, over 30 years ago in a small coastal village in Cornwall - an incident which I had recently turned into a short story. I decided to add some embellishment to the tale, then expanded it to include more of my experiences and made them Stephanie's, and "Mother of Marlin" was born. In fact,  the book seemed to write itself with little help from me. The books are set in Cornwall, where it all began,in the fictional seaside village of Marlin


When the first book was completed, I realised that Stephanie had more to do, more to learn, and a lot more challenges to face. So I went on to write Book 2 "Children of Marlin" soon after that in 2016, then the Book 3 "Whispers of Marlin" was completed by the end of the year. Book 4 "Nightmares of Marlin" followed, then "Pictures of Marlin" with "Song of Marlin" due out this Winter. More are already planned.


Marlin has a magical hold on me: if I'm away too long it calls me back, which is why I keep writing more sequels. Marlin is like my second home: my happy place.  Stephanie's story and that of her loved ones is far from over. I hope you will join me on this journey, as I find out what life has in store for her.


CONTENT

There is a lot of myself in these books and they are a labour of love, combining all the hardship and happiness that real life is filled with, and mine has been no exception. Only those that know me very well will be able to separate the facts from the fiction, but I can assure you that there are a lot of very real and often scary memories scattered throughout these books. Stephanie is a fanciful version of someone who I might have been, had my life taken a different direction. But she is her own person too, and she has to deal with the remarkable things that sometimes happen to ordinary people.Yes, she is fictional, yet she is all too human, like the rest of us.

 

Although loosely employing the cosy mystery style of writing, this series is anything but cosy. Be warned: there is creepiness in large quantities, with crime and horror, scenes of peril, a little mild bad language here and there and occasional violence. But there is nothing too gratuitous or gory, and the emphasis is always on the spooky.


I try to write books of the sort that I love to read, with beautiful locations steeped in history, realistic characters who learn and grow, paranormal events, mysteries to solve and a fright or two along the way. I hope I have succeeded, and that you will come to love the characters and their experiences as much as I do.    


When writing the books, I will admit that some of my memories brought back chills, and some scenes still reduce me to tears every time I read them. But many brought me joy in remembering them. I hope that it all comes through to you too. The characters and many of the places are fictitious, as is much of the story, but the emotions are only too real.  I hope my books inspire you to write one of your own. If I can, so can you.


I leave you with this wish - May your life be boring enough to be safe, and strange enough to be interesting. Mine has certainly been very interesting!  Dare to a dream, then make it a reality. There will never be a better time than now... and no-one better to achieve it.

Best wishes,
Alyson

"THE MARLIN CHRONICLES" SERIES

NOVELS
                               NOVELLAS


LATEST NEWS

"Song of Marlin: Book 6 of "The Marlin Chronicles" was published on st May 2023.

"Echoes of Marlin" is the third novella to accompany the series, also available on Amazon and free to email list members.

I am also working on a few other exciting new projects, both fiction and non-fiction.

NON-FICTION

In 2017 I was approached by the award-winning children's publishing company Jessica Kingsley Publishers to write a much needed non-fiction book for children, on a topic close to my heart. Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) affects up to 5% of the world population, including my son, and I have been undertaking voluntary work, support and advocacy for this condition since 2002. This was done via the former organisation APDUK which I co-founded and several Facebook groups which are ongoing. In 2017 I also founded the new unincorporated association APD Support UK with like-minded others, to continue this work and promote wider, standardised testing, recognition and full support in the UK for people of all ages this misunderstood disabling condition and their loved ones. Please visit the APD Support UK website for information and support on Auditory Processing Disorder/APD, including details about diagnosis, free handouts, articles, research and links to support groups for all ages.

"Can I tell you about Auditory Processing Disorder?" was published on 21st May 2018.
Please visit the Non-Fiction page for full details and to order. 

In between writing my novels,  spent the best part of 2020 working on a much longer book on Auditory Processing Disorder for parents and professionals for Jessica Kingsley Pubishers, published in March 2021. Please visit the Non-Fiction page for full details.

COMMENTS AND CONTACT DETAILS

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