An ocean crossing. A scientist with a secret. A captain on his last voyage. A crew who don't know what's beneath them ...
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Hello from Bath, One of the most common questions that authors are asked is: "Where do you get your ideas?" Well, for me, it's often about where I travel and what I find there. In 1999, I sailed on a tall ship from Fiji to Vanuatu in the south pacific, and something about that crossing never let me go. I just couldn’t find the right story for it ... until now.
Bones of the Deep has finally arrived, with a setting that takes you out on the open ocean, the stolen bones of a merfolk culture, and a crew who can’t escape. But these aren't the mermaids you grew up with. This is an ancient civilisation coming to reclaim what’s theirs, and there’s nowhere to run … This is a thriller with teeth. An ocean crossing. A scientist with a secret. A captain on his last voyage. A crew who don't know what's beneath them ... They should have never left port. Bones of the Deep is a stand-alone fast-paced thriller and the exclusive signed first edition hardback is now available on Kickstarter, with the paperback, large print, ebook, and audiobook all available too, months earlier than on other stores. There are bundle editions of my other stories in different formats as well. Click here for the Kickstarter campaign Click here to watch the book trailer It runs until 5 May, 2026, and the book will be available on all other stores from July. Any questions, please let me know!
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J.F. Penn
For readers who want to escape ...
Hello from Bath, Spring is here and I recently attended a reunion back at my Oxford college, which was strange but also wonderful to see old friends and where they have ended up in life after 30 years. There was a moment in the old hall when a bell rung and Grace was said before dinner and the years fell away. Precious memories indeed, and you can read/listen to me talk about Oxford in this episode of my Books and Travel Podcast on Decadence, Discipline, and Dreaming Spires. Writing-wise, I...
Hello from Bath, It's spring here which is lovely, and I am in the final phases of preparing for the launch of Bones of the Deep, my next thriller, and also starting to research the next ARKANE thriller, Crown of Thorns. While you wait for those, you might enjoy my short story, The Black Church, now available in ebook and audiobook, human-narrated by me! It's free for a limited time from my store, linked below, and it's also in my 12-story collection, The Buried and the Drowned. A week alone...
Hello from wintery Bath, and happy new year! I hope you're getting back into the swing of things as we move into 2026. I'm just finishing edits on my next thriller, Bones of the Deep, details below. If you prefer a desert thriller to the ocean, Death Valley is on special, with the ebook free on Amazon 22 - 26 Jan, 2026. Click here to check it out on Amazon, or here on other stores. Reviews would be much appreciated! I'm also back at college, working on my Masters in Death, Religion and...