JO. B. CREATIVE

Author & Multi-Disciplinary Artist
Showing posts with label Alias Jeannie Delaney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alias Jeannie Delaney. Show all posts

Sunday, 1 February 2026

WRITING AN EPIC WESTERN IN THE HEART OF JANE AUSTEN COUNTRY!

WRITING AN EPIC WESTERN TRILOGY

IN THE HEART OF JANE AUSTEN COUNTRY!




                                            JANE AUSTEN IN THE WILD WEST!


Unless you’ve lived under a rock all your life, you’ll know who Jane Austen was. She wrote her novels - mostly about middle class daughters being married off - & died in Hampshire during the late 18th & early 19th centuries. She wrote in her cosy parlour in Chawton Village until her death in Winchester in 1817. I live in Alton, a twenty minute cycle ride from Chawton Cottage, her home. 



I stood in her parlour where a squeaky floorboard warned her of approaching footsteps so she could hurriedly hide her writing.

I rolled my eyes at that - until I considered my own secretive writings of a blood & lust western starring a charismatic, bisexual, fastest gun slinging cowgirl. Not exactly Austen territory. So, I, too, could have used a warning floorboard. Husband turned up in my late twenties and said, “For goodness sake write that damn story!” So I did, & published Alias Jeannie Delaney, Books 1 & 2 on Amazon under my pen name Kit Mackenzie. My other identity, a wild western UK gal, is Kitty Le Roy (also a steampunk pirate). Kitty was my granny and the wild west has been a fascination since my teens. The development of Kitty grew alongside the story. 


  




But back to Chawton Cottage...

I wandered into Jane’s bedroom and was far less fascinated by her writing or samplers on the walls than by the fact that her chamber pot, tucked in a small closet, would still contain her DNA.

I’m no Austen devotee, I'm afraid. 

Two centuries after her death, & long after her novels leapt from page to screen, I can be found half a mile away, editing Book Three of Alias Jeannie Delaney on my laptop.

As a 1960s teenager, I slogged through Pride and Prejudice for my 

O Levels, along with William Golding's Lord of the Flies. I was not delighted. I did well at English Language but flunked English Lit. Austen’s wit may be legendary, but to me the story dragged like a sermon on root vegetables. Yes, I know -  eighteenth-century context, twenty-first-century eyes, stroppy teenage reader. I’m a stroppy granny now. 

My daughter, studying Sense and Sensibility during the 1990s, was lent the video by her grandma. I would have given my right arm to be able to watch Pride and Prejudice during my exams. I might have stood a chance of passing my exam. Only Charles Dance’s Mr Bennet has softened my stance. I watched Pride and Prejudice & Zombies recently. I enjoyed that bonkers film, & I might have passed O Level if that version had been on the syllabus. 





Whatever. I really don’t care now.

Now, about Jane's Bennets - my namesakes without the extra 't'. ..  My great-great-grandfather James Bennett and his cousin John Bennett lived in Hampshire (as my dad said to me: “You’ve returned to your Hampshire roots.”). James & John were well-known cricketers at Jane's time.

They played for Middlesex and at Marylebone in 1805, & their names appear in contemporary sports periodicals. 

Interesting, yes, but what does this have to do with Jane?

Jane & family were keen on cricket. A television film from a few years ago, Becoming Jane, shows her playing cricket in their garden. The surname Bennet & her fondness for cricket got me thinking. A quick Google of “Jane Austen” & “cricket” led me to Fantasy Bob, a cricket enthusiast, & his website.



Bob reckons that Jane was influenced by the cricketing Bennetts. I’ve never proved this, but the timing is right. The Bennett cousins played at Hambledon Cricket Club in Hampshire when Jane was around & where the rules of cricket were established. It’s entirely possible that Jane deliberately or accidentally borrowed the name, dropping the second ‘t’.

It’s a cracking story, & I’m sticking with it. What a thought, that my ancestor James & his cousin John were Jane Austen’s heroes. What a story if I could prove it.

Many of Alton’s roads are named after Austen characters & locations. Our cul-de-sac is Bennet Close, just off Netherfields. People said we were “coming home” when we moved because of my surname. Perhaps they didn’t realise how true that might have been.

To sum up: here are two writers, Jane & me, living two centuries & half a mile apart, writing two radically different visions of womanhood. One with marriage plots & embroidery hoops. The other with guns, grit, & a bisexual cowgirl.

I couldn't find more compelling stories if I tried.




KITTY'S CABIN


Alias Jeannie Delaney Books 1 & 2 

are available as e-novels, 

paperbacks & on Kindle Unlimited.


IF YOU'VE READ & ENJOYED THE TRILOGY SO FAR,  I'D BE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ON AMAZON. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH!





ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - THE STORYLINE     

Badass pants-wearing tomboy beauty Jeannie Morgan grows to be a cowgirl & the fastest gun west of the Mississippi. But when she discovers that her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey & both men & women enjoy her magnificent lovemaking, she feels as though she's been trampled by a cattle stampede. 

She's born in vibrant New Orleans in 1865 and strongly rebels against the upbringing of a Victorian girl. The family head west where she finds her true calling on her Pa's ranch. However, the explosive mix of her looks, her charismatic power, her lethal gun & finally her sexuality go against her & the townsfolk want her out or dead. Preferably dead.


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Tuesday, 21 October 2025

RIP-ROARIN' REVIEWS!


 
RIP-ROARIN’ REVIEWS!

This is a long one - so hitch your pony, grab yourself a dubious alcoholic drink from one of the many saloons in Coyote Creek, Wyoming (home of dynamic cowgirl Jeannie Morgan alias Delaney, bisexual and fastest gun west of the Mississippi), settle your rear on one of the booze stained pews and sit awhile with your gut rot whiskey while I ply you with news of my progress on  Alias Jeannie Delaney- Book 3.  

. 

                                          


I'm ploughing through the editing of Book 3 of Alias Jeannie Delaney, so the fans who've been following my progress and are waiting like cats on hot tin rooves for the emotional and big bang ending, just hold your wild stallions. I will get there, with the magnificent help of my PA/hubby. A few months later, admittedly, but, as some readers have said, I've got to look after my mental health after author burnout, which is dodgy at the best of times!

I'm sharing some of my approaching fifty reviews and ratings on Book 1 - Go West, Girl! & Book 2 - The Outlaw's Return - most of them 5*, which is fantastic, and, thirty+ on Book 2. I don't know precisely, and I don't read them. My successful author daughter stated: "Don't read your reviews, Mum. They can do your head in!" My editor, who was the first professional to assure me of the quality of my writing, told me my narrative was '24 carat'. Thank you so much, Caroline! 

There are a couple of more negative reviews: One observes that Jeannie doesn't believe in God. -  your point is? - and her conversation and humour is ripe. This is the old west we're talking about! And anyway, the reviewer still read the story, so there must be something that made them keep going. That's a positive in my book, so to speak! 

I want to shout the reviews from the top of that hot tin roof, but I can't, so I'll post a selection instead. Here they are:


'Brilliant reviews - and for the record, I’m reading ‘The Outlaw’s Return’ at the moment and am thoroughly enjoying it although it isn’t my normal genre. I’m on holiday and it’s a great holiday read. Looking forward to Book 3!'


'The premise of a charismatic and skilled cowgirl on a journey of self-discovery is absolutely captivating. Kudos on the rave reviews and the unique twist Kit Mackenzie has brought to the western genre.'


'Yee-hah! I'm enjoying this soooo much! Not just because of the story but also because of the quality of the writing, and the loving detail put into it. Clearly a lot of research - Kit Mackenzie writes as though she's actually been there. I so enjoyed reading the novel in detail, and relishing the nuances of the fab writing. Rereading it and absorbing the world and the atmosphere she's created. It's a terrific story with strong characters (to put it mildly!) and a powerful arc.'


BOOK 2 - THE OUTLAW'S RETURN

'And here it is -- what a story! When I started reading I couldn't think how on earth Kit Mackenzie would be able to make something interesting from the situation Jeannie was in, but OMG...'


C S. Ashley-Cooper

5.0 out of 5 stars

A different -- and memorable! -- Western adventure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2024

This story took me right into the world of the wild west -- but far from your usual male-centred shoot'em-ups, this is the story of a young woman of extraordinary courage and skill, and powerful sexuality. What a combination! Highly recommended.


C S. Ashley-Cooper

5.0 out of 5 stars

Fast, furious fun with historical insights

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 August 2024

I enjoyed 'Go West, Girl' so much that I couldn't imagine that this, the next book in the series, could possibly top it. But ... it did! 'The Outlaw's Return' is a whizzbang adventure, yet full of authentic detail, giving me a window into a world long gone, yet still relevant to our own lives. Lovely job, Kit Mackenzie!


'A unique and fascinating Western theme. Kit Mackenzie has an enviable writing skill!'


'A unique western read. well written and entertaining! Five stars.'


'This is a different take on a western and I really enjoyed it. Jeannie is an independent woman focused on living her life on her terms before it was socially acceptable to do so. It is well written and entertaining!'


'A great western story!' *****

'Not like any Western book I've ever read... Jeannie is best described as a difficult child. I love her grown-up character. She lives life on her own terms, not always liked but well-respected. I'm looking forward to more stories of her life.'


'Just finished reading Alias Jeanne Delaney. I found it a really fascinating and an interesting read. Quite extraordinary. Loved your ability to set the scene, making it feel as if the reader was there themself experiencing the scene and the surroundings. I know that you said it might not be my kind of book but I have to tell you that it is! quite unlike anything I have read before.'


Jeannie's adventures continue...

'Jeannie is back with her band of followers. The author wastes no time in kicking this story in gear. Gun fights, fist fights, bar fights, a dalliance with a saloon girl... On to chapter three... There was a time in the middle-ish that the story seemed to drag a bit. Stay with it - it picks back up and the last third of the book just flies by. I've enjoyed seeing her find her way, trying to do the right thing, and hope to see more.'


'This is a crack shot story, a unique blend of adventure, humor, and powerful storytelling that blazes across the wild frontier into the heart of the country at that time. It will leave you hungry for more!'


'This is a top tier telling of an unconventional child to woman experience in the 1800's west. I'm loving everything about this story'

BOOK 2

A strong sequel in this Wild West world

'I really enjoyed the Western element to this book, it had everything that I wanted from the first book. It was a great follow up and had the characters that I was invested in. It worked with everything that I enjoyed from the wild west and enjoyed the main character and cast. I can't wait to read more in this series and from Kit Mackenzie.'








If you enjoy these stories, you might like Alias Jeannie Delaney!


ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - THE STORYLINE     

Dynamic pants-wearing cowgirl Jeannie Morgan is the fastest gun west of the Mississippi, but when she discovers that her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey & both men & women enjoy her magnificent lovemaking, she feels as though she's been trampled by a cattle stampede. 

She's born in vibrant New Orleans in 1865 and strongly rebels against the upbringing of a Victorian girl. The family head west where she finds her true calling on her Pa's ranch. However, the explosive combination of her tomboy beauty, her powerful persona and her lethal gun go against her and people want her out or dead. 

How will she survive? Will she survive? Or will those very qualities see her through to a charismatic conclusion?


IF YOU'VE READ & ENJOYED THE STORY SO FAR, I'D BE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ON AMAZON. THANK YOU SO MUCH!





                                                                    Alias Jeannie Delaney - 
                                                         Book 1 - Go West, Girl!
                                                         Book 2 - The Outlaw's Return

Available as e-novel & paperback & on Kindle Unlimited.




                 MY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS
                             OF JEANNIE






CHAPTER SAMPLE
BOOK 1 - GO WEST, GIRL!



CHAPTER SAMPLE 
BOOK 2 - THE OUTLAW'S RETURN





                ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY BOOKS 1 & 2  HAVE APPEARED IN 
                                           THE FOLLOWING BLOGS & ON YOUTUBE:





























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Sunday, 17 August 2025

MY HERO APPROACH BRINGS OUT THE BIG BLACK DOG WITHIN ME

MY HERO APPROACH BRINGS OUT
 THE ANIMALS IN ME 



FROM OKAY TO SAD


HELLO, GODZILA




In other words... 

Author Burnout is Goddamn Real & Painful

If, every time you sit down at your keyboard and start going through the editing process with your editing partner/PA husband and you burst into tears despite the fact that you're doing good stuff - well, that's burnout. 

And...  simultaneously you're doing your solo hero editing approach and you're well ahead of your team work and fixing later chapters. You're rearranging sentences so that they sound better and replacing words with more refined words, and it's going well. You're appreciating what you're doing but you still feel crap and depression creeps its spidery fingers all over you - that's burnout. 

And you wake up every morning feeling depressed...

F**k all that for a game of soldiers. (Funny old term, eh? Very British, except that we said 'sod' and not f***k). 

Our push to get Book 3 of  Alias Jeannie Delaney out this month wasn't working. Even if I do finish editing this month, there's the final editing stage with my designated reader, the formatting stage and the cover design. I think I've got a title so that's good. But just because Book 1 - Go West, Girl! and Book 2 - The Outlaw's Return were launched in August two years and one year ago, doesn't mean it's cast in concrete and that the same must apply to Book 3, much as I and my PA would like it. When you're suffering from burnout, trying to get your story to the best possible standard you can, well, you're onto a loser and it ain't pretty, I can tell you. 

My animal within is trying to protect me. 

If I'm editing, my animal (hamster in his wheel) doesn't like it and he's running his little legs like a demented - well, hamster - making my brain's frontal emotion-governing hippocampus 

overload, turning to scrambled egg and making me deeply depressed. 

I'll call my hamster Squeaker cuz I had a hamster with that moniker once upon a time when I was a kid. So Squeaker is trying to beat up the Big Black Dog. I'll call the dog Godzilla.



It's my hamster's ploy to get me to leave whatever I'm doing because it's happening again. My hamster in my hero approach to editing has bitten me on the rear with its teeny tiny pointy fangs and reminded me that, no - stop!  You can't carry on doing this. He's trying to protect my psyche. 

The issues 'wot done it' have been burnout due to trying to unleash Book 3 on an unsuspecting public, health problems and the change in plot for a much more exciting big bang ending. It has all indeed 'done it.' Despite the new ending being a much, much more satisfying conclusion, I was still depressed, and being depressed when you're predisposed towards depression ain't good. Also hubby and I hadn't really been out and about much recently. Got to get the book out - got to get the book out. No you ain't, not when it's doing your head in. 

We've been through this before but never really attacked it properly. Now we must. 

To save our sanities we took off yesterday for Hayling Island in Hampshire, for the first time in two years (I can't believe that!). So glad we did. The weather was okay. Not swimming weather, although people were swimming and boating, but we had coffee on the beach followed by a good walk to a creek that leads to a brilliant outlook over the sea towards the Hampshire mainland, Emsworth and Langstone. Lovely. 



A RATHER MUGGY LOOKING CREEK 
ON HAYLING ISLAND


Then we walked hard and fast to get back to the car before our parking fee ran out and because it began spitting with rain, and thunder and lightning had threatened. We got back to the car with five minutes to spare on the parking fee and the rain held off until we were moving. That walk assured me that my physical health is pretty damn good. 

So - we asked AI for advice on author burnout and we received it. Extremely good advice and an excellent timetable. I've now got to read it through and apply what's applicable. The depression is receding and I hope it stays that way. So I'm doing nothing editing related for two weeks and be artistically creative. Doctor AI told me! Seems a very sensible idea. 

One of the issues is that I'm self employed. If you're an employee, if you get ill, you take time off. When you're self employed, you don't. The other factor is that mental struggles aren't acknowledged to be an illness. You can't take time off - you look fine. But you're not. If you had the flu or broken your leg, you give yourself time off. The same should apply to mental issues, but currently they don't and it's not considered. Bad, not good. 

So, all is not lost. I must read my AI proposal, act on it, and hopefully I will have recovered to a certain extent by September. 

In the meantime - art! Get cracking, woman!

















                                                                                        

A WORK IN PROGRESS (WHAT THE ***** IS THAT?)
IT'S A CARDBOARD ARMATURE - A BASE FOR A PLASTER SCULPTURE.
I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE A MOUNTAIN RANGE





                                 
                                            

THE AUTHOR IN A REASONABLE MOOD


If you've read my mental health story, I would suggest you move on, but if you haven't, here it is.

I'm an artist, writer & renaissance soul & I've suffered depression most of my adult life, certainly since post natal depression hit me. I started writing my epic western trilogy Alias Jeannie Delaney as a result of my emotionally neglected upbringing - Jeannie is the individual I wanted to be to prove to my parents & siblings the person I could be. I also wanted to create a female protagonist in the mold of a traditional western hero because there were none during the sixties & seventies, when I began evolving as a UK wild western woman. So those were my two overarching goals, and will remain so.





BOOK 1 - GO WEST, GIRL! & BOOK 2 - THE OUTLAW'S RETURN, HAVE 
APPEARED IN THESE BLOGS & ON YOUTUBE:





ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - 

THE STORYLINE     


Dynamic pants-wearing cowgirl Jeannie Morgan is the fastest gun west of the Mississippi. Upon discovering that her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey & both men & women enjoy her magnificent lovemaking, she feels as though she's been trampled by a cattle stampede. 

She's born in vibrant New Orleans in 1865 & strongly rebels against the upbringing of a Victorian girl. The family head west where she finds her true calling on her Pa's ranch. She also discovers with relish that her skill with a gun is lethal. The explosive combination of her tomboy beauty, her powerful  charisma, her sexuality & her lethal gun all go against her. People are calling for her dismissal & even her death. Will it be a case of kill or be killed?

IF YOU'VE READ & ENJOYED THE STORY SO FAR, I'D BE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ON AMAZON. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

 









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Wednesday, 23 July 2025

ITS THE FINAL CHAPTER...



(The figure of Jeannie is mine, the background is ai)

I've reached the final chapter of Book 3. 

And I've blubbed. Got really emotional. That's what I do. It's a bloody pain in my ass but it's what I do. I was born so super sensitive I gush at the sight of kittens. 

This post is more for the benefit of those who have read Books 1 &/or 2 of Alias Jeannie Delaney and are waiting in line for Book 3. The writing of this socking great tome has sometimes been torture, sometimes satisfying, but mostly incredibly intense. 

The story is a right ol' rollercoaster of highs and lows, life and death, gunfights, fist fights, sex, blood, sometimes funny, drugs an' rock an' roll. Just kidding - omit the drugs an' rock an' roll. 

I've spent the last forty years - give or take, and intermittently - writing, researching, editing, self-publishing and marketing the first two novels of Alias Jeannie Delaney. My visual artistry has been largely neglected in my impassioned longing to introduce my heroic western protagonist Jeannie Morgan out into the world. She's my OTT charismatic, scary and funny tomboy-beautiful pants-wearing cowgirl who's the fastest gun west of the Mississippi and a magnificent lover to both men and women. 

She's me. Apparently. I was told. The character I created back in my teens during the late 1960s into the 70s. The individual I craved to be in response to my emotionally neglected upbringing.  Plus, I was becoming a budding UK wild west gal  re-enacting my western persona Kitty Le Roy, who was frustrated with the lousy roles for women in westerns. I wanted to help correct that. So I wrote the story I wanted to read. And Jeannie was and still is ahead of her time. I'm told that this is very appropriate timing for her to be released.

So, as you can see, my heart and soul have gone into this story. 

I've reached the end before, in previous editing, but since publishing Books 1 and 2, PA hubby suggested tentatively, in case I blew his head off, that ideally, the ending should blow readers'  heads off with dynamite. Western style, you understand. 

Therefore I had to change the original ending because it was 'nice' 'Nice' ain't good. 'Nice' don't hack it and have you blubbing into your coffee mug around the chuckwagon. It made you smile like a mule on opium, but smiling don't hack it either. I needed that ending to leave the reader, if not wrung out and suicidal, certainly bawling their heads off into their whiskey. 

So I've changed it thanks to PA hubby. (Yes, he will get the credit). I've woven in a extra piece of plotting to end on a non- opium induced high - a big bang grand finale. Now I've almost done it. I reached the final chapter last night and I just couldn't edit it. I grew sad, emotional and tearful. F**k. I hate that. This is a good thing. I think it means I've done it. I hope so. I hope I've achieved what I set out to do. I'll only know when hubby can barely read out that chapter during the second stage of editing and have to be fortified with his own favourite brand of whiskey. 

So I'm writing this post as a necessary pause in editing before returning to that final chapter. To get my head around it. To gather my emotional reserves in order to tackle that finale. I'm nervous. I read once that J. K. Rowling killed someone off and became miserable as hell. Her husband suggested that she didn't have to do that, but of course she went right ahead and wrote it because she had to. Being a writer sucks. It can f*****g hurt. But if it's a good or even a great piece of writing, you'll bawl into your glass of sarsaparilla or whiskey, wipe your tears and mosey on. That's what I've got to do. 

So, hold onto yer hats, I'm fixin' to dive right in... 😱🤠




THE AUTHOR
LOOKING SUITABLY SCARY
WITH HER WINCHESTER RIFLE 



ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - 

THE STORYLINE     


Dynamic pants-wearing cowgirl Jeannie Morgan is the fastest gun west of the Mississippi. Upon discovering that her sexuality is as fluid as a miner's whiskey & both men & women enjoy her magnificent lovemaking, she feels as though she's been trampled by a cattle stampede. 

She's born in vibrant New Orleans in 1865 & strongly rebels against the upbringing of a Victorian girl. The family head west where she finds her true calling on her Pa's ranch. She also discovers with relish that her skill with a gun is lethal. The explosive combination of her tomboy beauty, her powerful  charisma, her sexuality & her lethal gun all go against her. People are calling for her dismissal & even her death. Will it be a case of kill or be killed?

IF YOU'VE READ & ENJOYED THE STORY SO FAR, I'D BE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW ON AMAZON. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

 






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