The Rushford Times - A weekly newsletter from Jodi Taylor

Sent on Wednesdays to paid subscribers and Fridays to free subscribers

This week we have:

• Jodi Taylor’s: Edit Hell

• Jodi Taylor Book Recommendation: The Will of the Many by James Islington💙📚

• Author interview with Jacqui Collier

• It’s time to vote for the winning Valentines Day poem - CLICK HERE TO VOTE

• February audio clip competition - guess the book and characters speaking for your chance to win a signed copy of Out of Time

• A Symphony of Echoes is just 99p or 99 cents this month on Amazon

• Short Story of the Month: The Very First Damned Thing - a chance to discover some of the St Mary’s short stories

  There’s plenty to read this week and you can see everything on the blog too. CLICK HERE for the blog.

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Sorry – nothing major from me this week – I’m in well over my head with A Family Affair edits and the deadline is looming.

I don’t know if it’s the incessant rain, or the fact that my only social interaction over the last fourteen days has been with the Lloyds Bank Fraud Department, post-Christmas blues, or that I’ve just finished the last of the Christmas cheese, but the world seems a very gloomy place at the moment. Or possibly it’s just me drenched in despair and everyone else is gambolling away like spring lambs and cartwheeling for joy in the streets

A quick look outside to verify. Umbrellas. Dog cocking his leg. A lot of illegal parking. Supermarket delivery van. Oh wait – that’s me. Thank goodness – now I can have lunch. I can edit or I can shop – I don’t seem capable of doing the two simultaneously

I’ll get back to you next week when, hopefully, I’ll have emerged triumphant from Edit Hell.

See you then.

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Jodi Taylor Book Recommendation: The Will of the Many by James Islington💙📚

This is a book with a lot going on. Set in the Republic of Caten – the equivalent of Ancient Rome – the story follows the adventures of Vis Telimus, an ex-prince of Suus, a country invaded and occupied by Caten. As a fugitive Vis must do whatever he can to avoid coming to the attention of the authorities. Something he significantly fails to do. As with every hero worthy of the name, Vis attracts trouble wherever he goes.

Adopted by a high-ranking Caten family, he is sent to the Academy – a rigorous educational establishment where not every student survives. His task, set by his adoptive father, is to discover the facts surrounding the mysterious death of his father’s younger brother. Difficult enough you might think, given that he must keep his identity a secret from everyone at all costs, but he is also being blackmailed by a group of rebels who know exactly who he is and will not hesitate to use him for their own ends.

Prince, fugitive, student, hero, spy, surrounded by enemies and always alone – will Vis survive?

This is a tense, well written and consistently exciting tale – the first I’ve read by James Islington. I haven’t quite finished The Will of the Many – at 640 pages it’s not a short book – but I have already ordered The Strength of the Few – the sequel, because I really want to find out what happens to Vis Telimus.

Have you enjoyed this book too?

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Author interview with Jacqui Collier

What inspired you to embark on a writing career, and how did your journey as an author begin?

I have been writing fiction and non-fiction since I was very small. At school I was the person who wrote the scurrilous gossipy stories that got passed around - I remember reading “she flicked her hair obnoxiously again” and everyone in the lunch room shrieking with laughter as they knew exactly who was meant. That was the first time I realised I could make people laugh with words, not just when I fell over. (I fell over a lot.)

I trained as a journalist but wound up working in publishing for a while before going to university. I worked for years on the student union newspaper while studying English and Publishing, before deciding Publishing was not for me, and abandoning it entirely. I then got myself a graduate job publishing a weekly staff newsletter, writing and producing the entire thing. I really need to stop listening to my own gut feelings.

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IT’S TIME TO VOTE FOR THE WINNING POEM

We were delighted to receive so many entries to this competition. We asked for a Valentine’s Day Poem with rhyming couplets written to any figure from history.

Please CLICK HERE to read all the poems and then CLICK HERE to vote.

The winner will be announced on St Valentine’s Day and will received a framed copy of their poem.

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FEBRUARY - GUESS THE BOOK COMPETITION

Guess the book and characters speaking for your chance to win a signed copy of Out of Time

Put your knowledge of Jodi’s books to the test with our audio clip competition. Listen carefully to a short extract and see if you can identify the book and the characters speaking for a chance to win a signed copy of Out of Time.

Audiobooks are hugely popular among Jodi Taylor fans, bringing her stories to life through distinctive voices, character-driven performances, and immersive narration. For many readers, audiobooks offer the perfect way to enjoy a favourite series while commuting, walking, or relaxing. They make stories more accessible, flexible, and engaging than ever.

Tune in, trust your ears, and see if you can name the book and the characters behind the voices.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Results for January’s clip: the book was A Bachelor Establishment and the speakers were Mrs. Elinor Bascombe and Lord Ryde. A winner has been selected at random and contacted by by Jodi’s publishers. I’ve been advised that, for personal data best practice, we are shouldn’t announce the name but they have a signed copy of Out of Time winging their way.

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A Symphony of Echoes is just 99p or 99 cents this month on Amazon

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The Very First Damned Thing - available in Kindle and Audiobook formats - also included in The Long and Short of It anthology

Ever wondered how St Mary’s came to be? This story follows Dr Bairstow as he embarks on the ambitious and seemingly impossible task of founding the St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research. As part of his strategy for official recognition and the funding that comes with it, Dr Bairstow takes a team of civil servants to witness the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. During the battle, they find themselves caught in the chaos of one of history’s most decisive battles and witness first-hand the brutal reality of Napoleon’s final defeat. With that secured, Dr Bairstow can set about recruiting the first generation of St Mary’s historians, security, and technicians, assembling a team that will define the institution’s unique blend of academic brilliance and bloody-minded recklessness.

Jodi Taylor says…

‘I think I’d written more than four or five books before I wrote this prequel. I don’t know why I was suddenly overwhelmed by a need to go back to the beginning but I did. Normally my overwhelming needs involve chocolate. I always say to people – don’t read this one first. Get a couple of books under your belt first otherwise some of it might not make sense. Which assumes the rest of it does…’

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