*Photo: Jane being camera shy First published in the Isle of Thanet News of Friday 23rd October 2020 In my time as an author, journalist and guest-appearer

Author. Speaker. Journalist. Presenter
*Photo: Jane being camera shy First published in the Isle of Thanet News of Friday 23rd October 2020 In my time as an author, journalist and guest-appearer
In the meantime, an apprentice, please? First published in the Isle of Thanet News of Friday 10th July 2020 Hark! Is that the sound of pens –
I AM looking forward to meeting South Thanet’s Russ Timpson for two reasons. Firstly, the man has a sense of humour (not always a given
A friend of mine once sat next to Nigel Farage on a plane. “He was very charismatic,” she said, clearly charmed even though her politics
“What a place to live!” wrote a friend from the Cotswolds, who’d been watching, aghast, the documentary Meet the Ukippers, aired last Sunday. I was at
FRIDAY 13th. Time to don the bubble wrap and protective headgear, avoid ladders, leave plenty of time to catch the train, and for the chaps,
WITH under 100 days to go until the general election, the big issue, pundits tell us, will be the future of the NHS. It will
WELL, how’s yours been so far? My New Year greetings come late, after spending the opening hours of 2015 horizontal and groaning, in the clutches
OUR columnists Jane Wenham-Jones and Mike Pearce don’t need a certain supermarket to remind them that Christmas is for sharing. Every year, she gets out
I DON’T know whether they teach this in journalism school – I am entirely self-taught (also known as untrained ) – but it is a
I THINK I know this area pretty well, but from time to time I am surprised to discover somewhere in Thanet I had no idea
MALE friends won’t believe me, but I don’t much like shopping. Not for me “a day out” at Bluewater, or an afternoon “just looking” at
Plain Jane 311014: Why prescribing Viagra to all men over 50 could save NHS GREAT discoveries, it seems, arise from a split second of blinding
Somewhat after the event, but every day is chocolate day where I come from …. 🙂 Plain Jane – It’s National Home Security month, Dyspraxia
Thank you to all those who have suggested that, further to my last column, I stand in the next election myself. My initial thought –
Of course Nigel Farage was selected as our UKIP candidate for South Thanet. He was always going to be and I am surprised that those
Margate is in the news again. Described as “the formerly gritty seaside town”, Margate has made its way onto yet another list, coming in at
ANDY Murray lost the tennis; the Germans won the football (so far). Type two diabetes is on the rise, standards are falling. Rumour has it
Plain Jane: Is Thanet really only known for the shipping forecast? As regular readers will know, I am an ardent proponent of this fair isle as the
RECENT figures have shown that 24,000 children each day are taken out of school for a family trip. If I still did the school-run, it
So another shake-up for our beleaguered local government. In-fighting and power struggles down at Cecil Street are nothing new, of course, but I am genuinely sorry
Plain Jane: Family tree research just to get my passport If I can give you one small piece of advice this week – along with
YOU know me, dear readers, I don’t like to complain – a regular little Pollyanna here, we are – but things have been, how shall
SIR Andrew Dillon, the pleasant-sounding head of Nice (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), is expressing doubts about taking “wider societal benefit” into
I am naturally thrilled to hear that Thanet Council have been hitting their targets, with a bullseye for 44 out of 58 “key projects”. I
OK HANDS up – who’s fallen by the wayside already? You over there with the fag and the cream bun – weren’t you going to
Regular readers of this column (God help you) will know that my final offering of the year has historically been a round-up of my top
My latest Isle of Thanet Gazette column – the annual joint offering with fellow columnist, my mate Mike 🙂
I like Laura Sandys. While not a natural inhabitant of the same neck of the woods, politically, as our good MP for Thanet South, (to
WHO says we can’t make our own entertainment? This family, gathered round the kitchen table on a dark, windswept night, has just spent an enjoyable
How time flies… a big hand for Carole Blake! My small tribute to the Queen of Shoes and her Fifty Years in Publishing. It was
I am not doing NaNoWriMo officially, but with a book to finish, another one to start, columns piling up, hundreds of emails to answer and
SO MANSTON Airport has been sold for a pound. As the lovely Ed and I agreed, had we known it was going to be so
A lovely blog post here from the immensely talented Clare Mackintosh (watch out for her debut novel next year – it’s going to be astonishing)
I AM on a deadline or three. There’s a scarily half-done manuscript to deliver, and articles needed sooner. I have bills to pay, e-mails to
LAST week, much to the consternation of the local bloggers, I flew to Manchester. Via Amsterdam. Yes, I got on a plane at Manston, landed at Schipol,
For those of you gagging to read my Isle of Thanet Gazette column without having to shell out 80p, here it is, hopefully better late
THEY say everyone’s got a book in them and I say: Sometimes it should stay there! The explosion of ebooks and self-publishing has made everybody
ALL together now, a great big ahhhhhh. I love a new-born baby (it’s the next 18 years that wears one down). And, together with the
SO THE heat is finally on – and has even reached Thanet – with temperatures predicted to soar into the thirties and stay there. Cue
ONE of the things you learn as you get older is that whatever it was, it was always longer ago than you think. I was
Bit late getting this up here as have been away to the Winchester Writer’s Conference where I had the enormous privilege of hearing Julian Fellowes speak!
And now I AM on the new website… hurrah! But here is my latest Plain Jane for those who’ve got used to reading it here… And Happy
The Isle of Thanet Gazette has a new website ( www.thanetgazette.co.uk) but it’s not yet sporting my latest column. So, for the strong-stomached, you saw it
100 Ways to Fight the Flab Competition. Judged by Janie Millman, Morgen Bailey (and me). …. It was very, very difficult to choose. We wrangled
Following on from last weekend’s Top 12, we are pleased to announce the creators of the Top 5 Flab-fighting tips, complete with the tips themselves, again in
Plain Jane with Jane Wenham-Jones: With beaches like ours, why are we still languishing in deprivation? I BLAME my colleague Mike Pearce. I go to
Taa-Raaa – we have the first set of results of the Fight the Flab Competition, judged by Janie Milman, co-owner of the fab Chez-Castillon, Morgen-with-an-e-Bailey
If Thanet councillors don’t want people to see them brawling, they should behave with dignity YEARS ago, when I was young and passionate, I joined
Plain Jane 12.04.13: I am often asked to sign petitions and occasionally I do, but mostly I find them a pointless waste of time. And
I can’t find this up on thisiskent.co.uk despite the invitation at the foot of the printed column – if you can, please do send me the
*** Have been having a grand catch-up on my emails (just the 117 now left in my To-Answer folder) and discovered this British Blog Post
Thought it was too good to be true. My Plain Jane column is up online but without my name on it. Again. But did write
Bit lax on the old blogging front lately but will catch up soon with the excitements of Richard and Judy at the book awards –
The trouble with writing a column five days in advance and then not getting round to posting it for three more is that by then
100 Ways to Fight The Flab has its second review! “heartily recommend for all writers, both big and small” “I must say it’s quite brilliant”
Quick one to say that they have technical problems over at Radio Litopia so I won’t be on this evening after all… Will post new
There – don’t they look pretty? Prime Time with the covers of the other lovely books shortlisted for the Romantic Comedy category of the RoNas.Very proud
Hello and Happy Friday. We have progress of sorts. My column in the Isle of Thanet Gazette is finally online (hurrah) but does not yet
Those who are sharp-eyed and read my last author post with Peter Jones may have noticed that I failed to publish a post last Wednesday.…
Am suitably delighted to report that Prime Time has been shortlisted for the Romantic Comedy category of the RoNas today. This is a massive honour of
Eat crisps to beat the flab The problem with having written a weight-control book (one can hardly talk “diet” when tips involves chocolate) is that
I know I’m a bit of a show-off but even I wouldn’t display my bottom without good reason. These photos were taken as possible cover