Janet pictured at South Shields Museum in the reconstructed kitchen of Catherine Cooksons childhood - 10 William Black Street, Jarrow.

Janet was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the North East of England and brought up in Durham. The MacLeod (her father's) side of the family originate from the Isle of Skye in Scotland where she spent long holidays as a child and now takes her own family as often as possible.

She has written amusingly on the subject:

"Most summer holidays we went on pilgrimage. Like whooper swans we flocked north obeying the in built seasonal call to return to our ancestral lands." [The Journal]

Janet has now collected many of her childhood anecdotes into a memoir, Beatles and Chiefs.

She studied Social Anthropology and Scottish History at Edinburgh University and has a keen interest in both the history of Scotland and the North East of England. Married to Graeme (a Geordie!) they have two children, Amy and Charlie and continue to live in the North East.

Janet has been a published writer since the mid 1980's and has a broad range of writing experience from adult historical novels and short stories to children's writing. She has also written regular newspaper columns, articles and TV reviews - many of them controversial! For several years she was editor of the international Clan MacLeod Magazine.

Janet: "I began my writing career doing scripts for photo stories in teenage magazines and then short stories for both the teenage and adult markets until in 1989 my first 2 novels were published. One was a teenage novel called Love Games (published by Pan Books) which was translated into both German and Icelandic! The second, The Beltane Fires (published by Lochar), was a sixteenth-century historical novel of witchcraft, intrigue and romance, set in Scotland at the court of King James VI."

But it is her sagas that have put Janet on the best seller lists.

"They combine my interest in 20th Century history and politics with my desire to tell stories about human relationships, family feuds, loves, loyalties and betrayals."

In whatever medium Janet is writing, she knows how to stir the emotions. Even her newspaper columns inspire loyal readers …

"When I read Janet MacLeod Trotter's novel The Suffragette, I considered it a masterpiece. I felt the same about her column on the recent Newcastle United scandal."

P M D. Whickham, England.

… as well as furious disagreement!

"As someone who disagrees strongly with practically everything you write, particularly your views on politics, I write to congratulate you on your piece about the Mary Bell book." L J., Tyneside, England.

To read about Janet's Sagas click here.

Contact Janet by e-mail: janet@janetmacleodtrotter.com