Jessica Blair
My real name is Bill Spence. Jessica Blair came into being when my publisher, Piatkus, accepted my first historical saga and declared that, for various reasons, they would prefer to publish it under a female name and they suggested Jessica Blair.
I was born in Middlesbrough in 1923. I trained as a teacher but never followed the profession as war intervened. I served in the RAF as a bomb aimer doing thirty-six operational flights in Lancasters of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron Bomber Command. After the war I was sent to Rhodesia by the RAF.
It was on the voyage to Durban that I wrote my first short story and was bitten by the writing bug. On return to England I wrote articles for newspapers and magazines and fulfilled my desire to write a novel by using some war time experiences as background.
My second book was a Western and 36 were published between 1960 and 1993. During that time two more war novels and a romance appeared in print. Along with my wife, Joan, I wrote three books dealing with aspects of Yorkshire. I started a review column in the Yorkshire Gazette and Herald and that is now in its fiftieth year.
Visits to Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast, sparked off an interest in whaling and ten years intermittent research into the subject resulted in the publication of an illustrated history. It was from this study that the Jessica Blair novels arose. The first of these appeared in 1992 and a new phase in my writing career began.
There have been twenty-five Jessica Blair novels published to date (February 2015) One more is with my publisher, Piatkus, an imprint of the Little Brown Book Group. All Jessica Blair novels are available in hardback, paperback, ebook, audio download, and Large Print.
Writing was a part-time occupation until 1977 when, with the full support of my wife, Joan, it became full-time. Throughout my whole writing career I have had her, and my four children's, unstinting support, advice, and inspiration.
I was born in Middlesbrough in 1923. I trained as a teacher but never followed the profession as war intervened. I served in the RAF as a bomb aimer doing thirty-six operational flights in Lancasters of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron Bomber Command. After the war I was sent to Rhodesia by the RAF.
It was on the voyage to Durban that I wrote my first short story and was bitten by the writing bug. On return to England I wrote articles for newspapers and magazines and fulfilled my desire to write a novel by using some war time experiences as background.
My second book was a Western and 36 were published between 1960 and 1993. During that time two more war novels and a romance appeared in print. Along with my wife, Joan, I wrote three books dealing with aspects of Yorkshire. I started a review column in the Yorkshire Gazette and Herald and that is now in its fiftieth year.
Visits to Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast, sparked off an interest in whaling and ten years intermittent research into the subject resulted in the publication of an illustrated history. It was from this study that the Jessica Blair novels arose. The first of these appeared in 1992 and a new phase in my writing career began.
There have been twenty-five Jessica Blair novels published to date (February 2015) One more is with my publisher, Piatkus, an imprint of the Little Brown Book Group. All Jessica Blair novels are available in hardback, paperback, ebook, audio download, and Large Print.
Writing was a part-time occupation until 1977 when, with the full support of my wife, Joan, it became full-time. Throughout my whole writing career I have had her, and my four children's, unstinting support, advice, and inspiration.
