Who is Joanna Penn?
I'm a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, as well as writing non-fiction for authors. I've written 23 books and sold over 500,000 books in 84 countries and 5 languages. I'm an independent (indie) author and I also run a small press, Curl Up Press, with my husband.
I'm also an international professional speaker and award-winning entrepreneur, voted as one of The Guardian UK Top 100 creative professionals 2013.
I'm based in Bath, England although I lived in Australia and New Zealand for 11 years and I'm a travel junkie!
I spent 13 years as a business IT consultant in large corporates across the globe before becoming a full-time author-entrepreneur in September 2011.
The Creative Penn offers information and inspiration on writing, self-publishing, book marketing and how to make a living with your writing through articles, podcast episodes, video, books and courses.
My journey …
I always dreamed of writing my own books, and spent many years thinking about it before I actually took the plunge.
I self-published my first non-fiction book
I write bestselling non-fiction under Joanna Penn, including How To Market A Book, Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur, How to Make a Living with your Writing, The Successful Author Mindset, Successful Self-Publishing, Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and Other Introverts, and Career Change.
Joanna Penn speaking in Stockholm. Photo Credit: Petra Rolinec, www.8tiesbaby.com
I also write thrillers under J.F.Penn. I joined National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in 2009 and 20,000 words later, I had a nugget of an idea that blossomed into my first novel.
In Feb 2011, I published my first thriller novel Pentecost, later republished as Stone of Fire. I blogged the journey and you can read all about the experience here.
There are now 9 books in the ARKANE action adventure thriller series, described by readers as ‘Dan Brown meets Lara Croft.'
In early 2013, I wrote a series of short stories based on Dante’s Inferno for Kobo’s Descent contest, a promo for the launch of Dan Brown’s Inferno. It’s now available as A Thousand Fiendish Angels.
In Nov 2013, I launched Desecration, the first in the London Crime Thriller trilogy, which debuted in the Amazon US Bestseller Crime list alongside Michael Connelly. Delirium and Deviance complete the trilogy. Readers have described the books as ‘the love child of Stephen King and PD James.'
In March 2014, I became a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author as part of ‘Deadly Dozen,' a box-set with The Twelve thriller and mystery authors. In August 2016, I hit the USA Today bestseller list with my own trilogy.
In 2015, I co-wrote Risen Gods, an urban fantasy thriller based in New Zealand, with bestselling dark fantasy author J.Thorn.
On a more personal note, I love reading in diverse genres on my Kindle and I put my book reviews on Goodreads. You can connect with me here.
My favorite genre authors include John Connolly, Stephen King, Lisa Gardner, Lee Child and James Rollins. Here's a list of books I love. I also read a lot of non-fiction, mostly travel, entrepreneurship, psychology and religion.
I’m married and live with my husband in Bath, England. I’m a cat lover and I enjoy a glass of pinot noir along with consuming a ton of ebooks as my main vice. I walk a lot and travelling is my addiction.
You can see lots of pictures from my life here on Flickr, including my travels, adventures and writing inspiration. You can also listen to interviews with me on video and audio podcasts here.
You can also watch some videos that Amazon made about me and my writing life here.
Connect with me here:
Facebook.com/JFPennAuthor (for fiction)
If you're interested in thrillers, you might want to check out my author site: JFPenn.com
You can also contact me on this page.
Official Bio
Short bio:
Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers under J.F.Penn. She also writes inspirational non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and international professional speaker. Her site, TheCreativePenn.com is regularly voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers.
Media/Press/Bloggers/Podcasters
Images for use on websites/blog posts/media
Photo credit: Mim Saxl, Oxford photographer.