Penelope Jones Halsall

Penelope Jones Halsall
Nationality and residence:	English resident in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom.
Born:	November 24, 1946 in Preston, Lancashire, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom.
Died:
Web-page:	http://www.Penny-Jordan.co.uk or http://www.AnnieGroves.co.uk

Penelope Jones Halsall's Pseudonyms
Caroline Courtney	Pseudonym used to sign regency novels (1979-1986).
Melinda Wright	Pseudonym used to sign air-hostess romps(1981-1983).
Lydia Hitchcock	Pseudonym used to sign thrillers (1981-1982).
Penny Jordan	Pseudonym used to sign contemporany novels (1981-Present).
Annie Groves	Pseudonym used to sign historical novels (2003-Present).

Biography

Penelope "Penny" Jones born on on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds, was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, who died aged 85, and his wife, Margaret Louise Groves Jones, a Scot. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".

She had been a keen reader from the childhood. Her mother leaved her in the children's section of our local library whilst she changed her father's library books. Her story-telling career began at the age of eight when she began telling original bedtime stories to her younger sister.

Her all-time favourite books are those of Jane Austen, Dorothy Dunnett, Catherine Cookson, Georgette Heyer, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare's plays and poetry and The Bible. After reading a serialised Mills & Boon book in a woman's magazine, she fell in love with the hero. Penny was eleven and she quickly became an avid fan.

Penelope left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. In her early days, she spent fourteen years working as a shorthand typist in Manchester.

Penny Jones married with Steve Halsall, an accountantand a “lovely man”, who smoked and drank too heavily, suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity.[1] They didn't have children, but she has a bakers dozen of assorted godchildren nieces and nephews

By her early twenties, Penelope was writing for herself, but she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, an agent, who was looking for a new-style Georgette Heyer, contacted the RNA.

Her writing career began in earnest when she was 30, in 1979, she published her first novels as Caroline Courtney. She publised under this penname 25 regency romances.

From 1981 to 1983, she singed air-hostess romps as Melinda Wright and thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock.

In 1981, Mills & Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey signed as Penny Jordan, and she has since written over 170 category romances for Harlequin, as well as full-length contemporary novels. To date, She has authored 138 titles for the Harlequin Presents imprint.

She has recently returned into historical novels as Annie Groves. Penelope gains much of her inspiration from human interest stories in the news as well as her own family history. She adapted a story told by her grandmother (Elsie Jones) in Ellie Pride.

Penny runs a writing group where she helps other aspiring writers to develop their craft, pointing them to agents and publishers who might be interested in their work. She is also active in women's charities in her native England.

Penny Halsall writes from an office in her beautiful mock Tudor house in Nantwich, Cheshire home that she shares with her dog, Sheba, and cat, Posh.

External Links

• Penelope Jones Halsall's Official Website
• Nantwich Writers Official Website
• Penny Jordan's Webpage that includes: biography, interview and books in Mills & Boon Website
• Penny Jordan's Webpage in Harlequin Enterprises Website
• Annie Groves's Webpage in Harper Collins UK Website
• Penny Jordan's Webpage and Annie Groves's Webpage in Fantastic Fiction Website
• Penny Jordan's Webpage and Annie Groves's Webpage in All Romance Writers Website