Meet the Preston woman who loves cats and 'writes a lot about werewolves'

"I had a picture in my head about a young woman who was a werewolf" - says Jeanette Greaves, 58, from Brackenbury Close, who will be visiting Penwortham Community Library next Tuesday to read an excerpt from her new novel Ransomed Hearts.

Jeanette - a former admissions tutor at Runshaw College for 15 years, who holds a science degree, has been writing short stories and novels for the past 15 years.

Her book is a sequel to Fight for the Future, which was released in 2021.

The front cover of which mysteriously depicts a man walking along a never ending stretch of road at night, with a guitar on his back and a werewolf by his side.

It charts the story of werewolf brothers who have returned to Lancashire and just want a quiet life, but fate has other plans for them.

They book was well received so she started delving into a second, which was then published in August this year.

Ransomed Hearts' front cover shows a man playing a guitar in what looks like a bar setting, and follows on from Anthony and Tomas who have now left their wives to raise their sons alone. However, the boys have a close bond which deepens when they discover the family secret.

Jeanette said: "I wanted to write a science fiction book but also a romance novel so I merged the two.

"I have always liked to write and started writing poems. I started writing seriously about 20 years ago about a family of werewolves and sent it off to a small press publisher who read it and said yes.

"However, it was not to be as six months later there was a staff change up and it got turned down."

Undeterred, she started looking into self publishing and published her first book in February 2021.

Jeanette, who has also written a number of short stories, lists science fiction writer Gwneth Jones and Stephen King as some of her favourite authors.

Loving all creatures real and mystical, when she is not delving into the creative writing world Jeanette also volunteers at Preston cats charity Purfecct Friend selling handcrafted items.

She also has two black cats - Frogger and Annie.

She said: "To spend all that time developing characters and bringing them to life in a finalised product is amazing and it is wonderful to see the books printed and shared with other people, but I am nervous to see how the book will be received.

"I have also given book three a title - Hearts' Home which I haven't really publicised at all.

"I would like to do another two books, but will wait to see the outcome of this one first."

In folklore, a werewolf, or occasionally lycanthrope, is a human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon.

Refreshments will be provided at the book reading from 1.30pm until 2.30pm, which will also feature a question and answer session. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Both books are available to purchase on Amazon.