J.J Hughes was born in Cottingley, a quaint little village in West Yorkshire, UK. Her grandfather Arthur Shackleton [was related to Sir Ernest Shackleton, the polar explorer - but the furthest grand-dad travelled perhaps was up the road to the men -only social club, but then he rose early and worked long and hard and filled the house with the amazing aromas of freshly baked cakes and bread..so could not be kneading dough and adventuring at the same time. Mouths always have to be fed, don't they and baking is hard, hot, thirsty work] J.J. Hughes parents Margaret and Arnold Simpson lived with her grandfather above the shop, the house was large, old and rambling with a proliferation of attics and spider filled cellars, if you cared to look closely- generally the author did not, preferring to spend her time playing catch, hop-scotch and the like in the cobbled streets, catching minnows in the beck [a small stream] or swimming beneath the waterfall which is famous for fairies, after two local girls [Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths] photographed them in 1917 [Or did they?]. Subsequently the photo's proved to be fake, and this inspired a movie called 'Fairy Tale: A True Story' which starred Peter O'Toole playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [the creator/author of Sherlock Holmes.] He was taken in by the hoax, but then again to this day J.J.Hughes believes in elves/fairies/mermaids/unicorns and all things Elemental and Other Worldly. Nearby to Cottingley is the author's Favourite Place: think Hovis ad's, steam trains, cobbled streets, try Tetleys real ale in Haworth, which is famous for the wild moors and the Bronte sisters - who wrote 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Jane Eyre' which are two of her Favourite Novels, along with 'Pride and Prejudice' [Jane Austen] and 'Gone with the Wind' [Margaret Mitchell]. Feisty heroines and fill-their-boots heroes, win hands down every time? J.J.Hughes was blessed and inspired by two incredible English teachers, Paddy and Vanda. Thanks to Paddy, a brilliant photographer [a passionate, Irish man with big beard, bowler hat and rather eccentric black flowing cape] she developed a life long love of film as a medium. Later, after leaving school, she studied English/American Literature with Film Studies at the University of East Anglia [U.E.A.] Norwich, and subsequently an MA in Creative Writing at Surrey University. Career wise, after a year or so teaching English abroad she accidentally landed a job in the City of London in an Investment Bank. After three amazing children came along, she quit the City and headed for the Surrey Hills, trained as a Life Coach and Passion Test Facilitator, and went on to co-author a No 1 Best Selling Spiritual self help book called 'Inspired by the Passion Test'. J.J Hughes is passionate about horses, the paranormal, New Age spirituality, self-development, travel, karma and reincarnation, crime...justice..... in no particular order. She has had numerous prophetic premonitions - usually about death, which so far despite a few close shaves she has escaped. She came to believe in reincarnation in her mid-twenties when her old horse Red made a re-appearance, this time as a palomino called Hooray Henry. Now, she's an experienced Coach/Mentor, Passion Test Facilitator and Soul Re-alignment specialist. Topics currently piquing her interest are Spirituality and Science, where she's hoping to see more inter-disciplinary co-operation, to solve the great remaining mysteries of life including man's origins. On that note she's keen on Panspermia - the theory of life being seeded from outer space. She's mighty curious about Aliens- when will they come out of the closets - and what are the ethical, moral and other massive implications of A.I. and Robots? Will the FANGS [Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google..sorts] colonise Mars- will we get all the plastic out of the seas? Will humanity swap hugs and harmony for mass destruction? Love and Light from J.J.Hughes x
