A-R International: JP McLean

JP McLean
Authors-Readers International

JP (Jo-Anne) McLean is a contemporary fantasy and thriller author best known for The Gift Legacy series. The first book of the series received Honourable Mention at the 2016 Whistler Independent Book Awards. Reviewers call the series addictive, smart and fun. Her books include endorsements from award-winning author Jennifer Manuel and bestselling authors, Elinor Florence and Kristina Stanley. The series has been described as fantasy light and is a good introduction to the genre for the uninitiated.

In 2016, JP’s body of work was included in the centennial anthology of the Comox Valley Writers Society, Writers & Books: Comox Valley 1865–2015. She is a member of the Federation of BC Writers and the Alliance of Independent Authors. Her articles have appeared in WordWorks Magazine, Wellness and Writing hosted by Colleen M Story, Mystery Mondays blog hosted by Kristina Stanley, and others.

Jo-Anne holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, is a certified scuba diver, an avid gardener and a voracious reader. She had a successful career in Human Resources before turning her attention to writing.

JP (Jo-Anne) McLean lives on Denman Island, nestled between the coast of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. Raised in Toronto, Ontario, JP has lived in various parts of North America from Mexico and Arizona to Alberta and Ontario before settling on Canada’s west coast.

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I have only ever met JP McLean online, but that was when I first set up the Reading Recommendations blog in late 2013, and Jo-Anne has been a stalwart supporter of me and the many other authors we’ve met online since then. Plus she’s an excellent writer! I’ve read almost all of the books she’s published so far. We also share the background of growing up in Ontario and spending summers at a family cottage north of Toronto. That’s why I particularly appreciated Jo-Anne’s review of my novella That Last Summer on Goodreads … she gets it! Some day, Jo-Anne, we will be in Ontario at the same time and will finally meet in person. In the meantime, let’s continue sending each other photos of the view from our respective deck/verandah!

JP McLean’s view …

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The Gift Legacy

I didn’t start out to write a series. My intention was to write a one-off book. But after I finished writing the first novel, I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters or their story lines. I knew they had legs. Before long, I was back at my keyboard. Soon I had a rough outline for two more books. At that point, the first book hadn’t yet been published, so I decided to call the series a trilogy.

However, after I finished writing the second book and was halfway through writing the third, I knew that Emelynn’s story would breach the trilogy framework. The fourth book put the final nail in the trilogy coffin and I renamed it The Gift Legacy. There are now six books in the series and one book in The Companion series. At this point, no more books in this series are “planned” but you know how well my best laid plans turn out.

A brief summary of the series: The Gift Legacy is a contemporary fantasy series set on the coast of British Columbia. It’s the story of Emelynn Taylor. She’s struggling to live with a mistake she made many years earlier. That mistake was accepting a gift from a stranger; a gift that develops into unpredictable episodes of weightlessness that send her skyward in terrifying uncontrolled flights.

Recently, JP McLean has completely redesigned her website and, if you sign up for her newsletters, you may also download free eBooks as she makes them available. So far I have received copies of Boone Park and Ghost Crimes. Click here to find out how you may also receive newsletters and free stories from JP McLean!

For more information about JP McLean, her books and writing, please click on this link to her website.

JP McLean has been featured on Reading Recommendations a number of time: Jan. 2014, July 2015, Feb. 2016, Dec. 2016.