Jennifer Ash writes writes historical fiction and cosy crime.

Are there TV shows or films that have influenced your writing?

The answer to this question is a massive YES!
When I was fourteen years old I fell in love with a television show called Robin of Sherwood.
I didn’t fall for any particular actor (well, maybe Ray Winstone’s Will Scarlet a little bit…); I fell in love with the entire story. Within minutes of watching one episode (in this case, the ninth episode of series three), I was hooked on all things Robin Hood and medieval. I wanted to know everything and anything about the story and the history that supported and complemented it.
When I was doing my A Level in History, I chose ‘Could there really have been a Robin Hood?’ as my dissertation subject. When I studied for my PhD three years after that, my subject concerned the perception of lawlessness in the fourteenth century. How accurately, I wondered, did the ballad literature of the period reflect the real criminal activity of the day?
This research, while expanding my knowledge of the Robin Hood canon, also introduced me to the fourteenth century world of the Folville family. These seven brothers, nobility from Ashby Folville in Leicestershire, adopted lawlessness as a career from the safety of their manor house.
Many years later, when I accidentally became a writer, I shamelessly used my love of Robin Hood and all the research I had done on the Folville family as plot material. First, I wrote the romcom, Romancing Robin Hood, and then the four part, increasingly darker, murder mystery series, The Folville Chronicles (The Outlaw’s Ransom, The Winter Outlaw, Edward’s Outlaw and Outlaw Justice).
It was due to the popularity of these books – all of which make my passion for the subject of Robin Hood clear – that I was approached to become an audio drama writer for a revival of Robin of Sherwood.
Thirty years after the show was first aired in the 1980’s, the original cast were getting back together – and by some miracle, I was on the team!! Dreams really do come true.
As a result of writing the audio adventures (and a few novellas) for Robin of Sherwood, I’ve been to a number of related conventions. These were the inspiration behind my very first cosy crime novel: Manuscript Mysteries at The Robin Hood Club.
As you can see, my love of Robin of Sherwood has been very good to me.

 

What period of history do you wish you knew more about? 

I wish I knew more about pretty much every period of history. In particular, I’d love to have the time to learn more about the 1600’s.
Although I’ve written a few scripts set in France in the 1690’s, my knowledge of the century as a whole is not as in-depth as I’d like. My plan – when time allows – is to write a series of books set in the post-Civil War years in England. It will happen, but I’ve a few other projects I need to finish first.

 

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I’m so glad you asked me this question, because it made me stop and get the one and a half books I’ve not quite finished out of the drawer (they really are in a drawer, all printed out and waiting for some T.L.C.). Both of them are crime thrillers. The only reason they lie, forgotten and dusty, is that I was offered contracts with publishers to write other things, and I’ve not had time to go back to them.
Until now, I’d forgotten all about them! It must be nearly twelve years since I last flicked through their pages. Maybe I’ll be brave and revisit them soon.
I rarely write only one book at a time, so I should declare that I also have a few other things at the mid-point too. These projects, however, are not forgotten.
At the current moment I am halfway through a cosy crime novel (no details I’m afraid as it’s all hush-hush), I have three chapters written of the second The Robin Hood Club mystery, and I am three-quarters of the way through a Robin of Sherwood story, as well as a script for an audio-sitcom.

 

If you could create a museum exhibition, what would be the theme?

Once upon a time I wanted to be a museum curator. This dream ended when I realised such work would mean spending time in close association with creatures that have been the subject of taxidermy. I have a deep seated phobia of such animals – I’m terrified of them! So – because almost every museum now has a natural history section – that was the end of that dream!
If I had followed that career path, then it will not surprise you to know that I’d have loved to bring together all the various works of literature that mention Robin Hood, alongside all of the crime records that catalogue men of that name and/or the types of crimes the outlaws are reputed to have committed.
While it would not have proved his existence one way or the other, it would have got people talking.

 

What was the inspiration for your most recent book?

As I mentioned above, it was my time at Robin of Sherwood conventions that formed the main inspiration for my most recent publication: Manuscript Mysteries at The Robin Hood Club.
The number of overheard conversations and experiences from the mix of fans, merchandise traders and stars of the show that I have witnessed over the years have provided me with a melting point of potential story ideas.
Alongside this, I wanted to use the time I spent in academia, as a medieval social history tutor, to underscore the plot. People who are enthusiastic about a period of history are fascinating folk!
Bringing a bunch of television programme fans and historians together, all of whom shared a passion for Robin Hood and his legend, led to all sorts of fictional fun!

From the corner of a café in Mid Devon, former archaeologist and historian, Jennifer Ash, has written the cosy crime novel, Manuscript Mysteries at The Robin Hood Club (KDP, 2024), and the medieval murder mystery series, The Folville Chronicles: The Outlaw’s Ransom, The Winter Outlaw, Edward’s Outlaw and Outlaw Justice (Littwitz Press, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020).

She has also penned over a dozen of audio stories and novels for ITV, Spiteful Puppet and AUK, inspired by the popular 1980’s television show, Robin of Sherwood, including, The Waterford Boy, Mathilda’s Legacy, The Baron’s Daughter, The Meeting Place, Mathilda’s Legacy, The Power of Three and The Servant, Tales Untold (2017-2024) – with more audio dramas on their way.

Better known as Jenny Kane, Jennifer also writes romances and romcoms for Bloomsbury, Headline and Head of Zeus.

All of Jennifer Ash’s and Jenny Kane’s news can be found at www.jennykane.co.uk 
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