海角直播

Debut novel for successful 海角直播 graduate

A 海角直播 graduate and owner of a thriving independent book shop is celebrating the release of her debut novel.

Jenna Warren graduated with a MA Creative Writing in 2008 and owns The Book Corner, an independent bookshop in Saltburn which, last year, made it into the Guardian鈥檚 top 10 list of Britain鈥檚 best independent bookshops. She is now set to see her debut contemporary fiction novel 鈥楾he Moon and Stars鈥� published, with pre-orders now available. 'The Moon and Stars' draws on Jenna鈥檚 passion for musical theatre and is tinged with a touch of romance.

She said: 鈥業 wanted to write a book loosely inspired by 'The Phantom of the Opera', which is my favourite story, but I wanted it to be in a different genre to the original, so not a Gothic novel. I hope I've written something character-driven and uplifting which people will relate to.

"The story follows Matthew, a classically trained singer. Unfortunately, he suffers from low self-esteem and chronic stage fright. He's desperate to perform again, so he sings in the shadows while his handsome friend, Ralph, takes to the stage. This plan has the potential to go very wrong, which it does.

鈥淭he story generally centres around Matthew's journey towards self-acceptance.鈥�

Jenna graduated from 海角直播 with an MA Creative Writing and reflects positively on her time at University.

She added: 鈥淢y lecturers showed so much enthusiasm, and offered constant support and encouragement throughout my studies. They really opened my eyes and showed me there鈥檚 lots going on for writers in the area.鈥�

Jenna has already started work on her next project, adding: 鈥淚 have a few ideas for future books. I'm currently working on another novel about music and performers. In a similar vein to 'The Moon and Stars', it's contemporary and character-driven, but there's an element of folklore in it too. I'm still writing the first draft, so I'm excited to see where it goes.鈥�

The Moon and Stars is published by Fairlight Books and is available for with a release date of 20 October.