Elaine J Jackson

Neon Sky Books
Author and Producer

Camberley, United Kingdom

Member Since:
September 2013

Last online:
> 2 weeks ago

Invites sent:
17

About Elaine

In 1980, I founded the Appreciation Society for 'The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy', ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, writing, editing and producing a quarterly newsletter, organising conventions, general and specific PR. Almost 42 years later, the society is still active, regularly holding walks around the late author Douglas Adams' home town of Cambridge, and occasional weekend conventons. As the founding member, I was invited to speak at a convention in 2018, and discovered that I was indirectly responsible for at least three couples meeting and later marrying! It was a very humbling experience, which made me realise just how capable we all are of affecting one another's lives in a positive way simply by following our passions.

In 2013/2014 I took courses with Faber Academy in creative writing/writing a novel, and editing and screenwriting courses with The Writers Workshop.

Having self-published a small collection of science-fiction stories in 2014, and my first full-length novel in 2016, a romance novella in 2018, and a second collection of short stories in 2019, I am now working on my next project, a post-apocalyptic science-fiction graphic novel titled 'Minding Mama'. As well as having previously crowdfunded, written and produced a trailer for my first novel, 'The Methuselah Paradox', and writing, crowdfuning & producing an online trailer for 'Minding Mama', I entered three scripts into Create50's 'The Impact' competition. I wasn't one of the finalists, but my scripts are still options for film-makers looking to make a 'wild card' entry in addition to their main submission. I live in hope! Finding ideas is not a problem - just the time to complete them... I also contributed two stories to an anthology with a theme based on the Singularity.

More recently, I have found myself creating websites and promotional shorts for other creatives. An author who writes sometimes humorous, sometimes dramatic YA stories, a photographer with a positive message for the benefits of nature and photography on mental health, and an old school friend who has discovered during lockdown that she has a talent for writing, performing in and producing her own costume roleplay short films. I am also currently setting up a website for a local resident's group trying to prevent the development of one of our local green spaces, a local nature reserve, which would be a huge loss to the community.

I have spent many years researching both my own and my husbands' family trees, and am currently studying for a Diploma in Geneaology.

My written work is primarily in the science fiction genre (although I have written one contemporary romance); my imagination is fired by the 'what if?' from which all good science-fiction springs. 'The Journey & Other Short Stories' told stories about people who found themselves in unexpected situations; 'The Methuselah Paradox' looked at possible consequences of life-prolongation, gene therapy and time travel; my second short story collection had a slightly more para-normal theme; and 'Minding Mama' explores the aftermath of two 'mass extinction' scenarios - intense solar flare activity leading to almost complete loss of the ozone layer, and the rise of A.I. But as always, I make the stories 'up close and personal', and have a small cast of characters. I'm always interested in the impact of bigger issues on the individual, and how people cope (or don't!) in those situations.

I like to tell science fiction themed stories with a human heart, to mix the ordinary with the extraordinary. My characters are not super-heroes; they are ordinary people, learning to cope with the extraordinary - they are you and me.

Unique traits: Creative soul, boundless imagination/enthusiasm & determination!

Gender:
Female

Height:
5' 5"

Weight:
176

Body type:
Average

Hair:
Chin Length

Hair color:
Grey

Eyes:
Hazel

Ethnicity:
Caucasian

Certifications

Photos

photo by Fiona Tanner www.ftmakeuplondon.com/

art by Dan Schaefer, colour by Grant Kempster

Kate Davies-Speak as Mama in 'Minding Mama'. image (c) Stephen R Cox.

Videos

Loglines

The Methuselah Paradox Sci-fi How long do YOU want to live?
Minding Mama Sci-fi A young mother and an ageing robot undertake a perilous journey across a post-apocalyptic world to save humanity

Credits

The Journey & Other Short Stories (2013 - 2017)
Print by Neon Sky Books/Elaine Jackson (Sci-Fi) Author Short stories with a science-fiction twist. Eva and Tom emerge from a train wreck to discover a deserted and partially destroyed London. What has happened to Tom's family? Gideon wakes to find himself lying in a ditch on a lonely country road. Is that his real name, and why can't he remember his life from before? Journalist Marc Harrison bends the rules to get a place on the first manned mission to Mars - and lives to regret it. cover by Harry Saxon
The Methuselah Paradox (2013 - 2017)
Print by Neon Sky Books/Elaine Jackson author Twenty-third century Detective James Moran’s daughter is dying. A cancer pandemic targeting adolescents is sweeping the globe, thanks to a mutation in the ‘Methuselah gene’ which has successfully extended life for most of the population. If a cure cannot be found, humanity could face extinction within one generation. Moran travels back in time in a desperate attempt to stop the Methuselah gene therapy program being implemented – but he arrives four decades too early. Unable to return to his own time, Moran must wait until 2018 to complete his mission. Can he avoid changing his own timeline? An accident in 1990 has far-reaching consequences not just for Moran and the young woman who will discover the Methuselah gene in 2018, but for Detective Inspector Ian Hammond of the Manchester police. Set in modern-day Manchester, where the quietly intense world of the scientific researcher meets the pedestrian and sometimes violent reality of the twenty-first century detective, ‘The Methuselah Paradox’ is a blend of science-fiction and gritty crime mystery. Cast: James Moran: Richard Oliver DI Ian Hammond: Simon Bugg Emma Morgan: Amelia Sefton Author: Elaine Jackson Camera: Sue Turner Stills: Sue Thomason Artwork: Catherine Archer-WIlls Book Cover: Rachel Lawston
New Leaf (2017)
Print by Neon Sky Books Author Aishling wants nothing more than to put the past behind her - and she has the perfect plan to do just that. But when attractive widower Jack Harper employs Aishling to look after his young son Bobby, things don't quite go according to plan. Can Aishling really turn over a new leaf, or will the past come back to haunt her?