About the author
Jake Ridge is the pseudonym of Colin R Parsons (initially, a children's and teen fiction writer with fourteen books published and counting). He was born on November 8th 1960 in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales in the UK.
On the 6th of July 2020 he signed a traditional publishing deal with Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Ltd. The contract was for the first book in an adult supernatural crime series with an urban fantasy twist. Killian Spooks Mysteries "Spirit Jumper" by Jake Ridge was a major step in his writing career. Previously, he'd only written for a younger audience, but writing for adults, he could push the boundaries. About the series... The protagonist Killian Spooks is a wizard detective who solves supernatural cases with magic and cunning. Police Chief Inspector Daniel Hathaway hasn't the manpower or time to waste on these embarrassing cases, so hires Mr Spooks and pays him on a case-by-case basis. Each one is different, exciting and deadly. The series will continue with a second book "Phantom Thief" and the third "Strange Happenings". Under the guise of Jake Ridge he intends to write more books in the wizard detective series. |
So where did he get the name?
As a kid, he loved cowboy movies with Clint Eastwood and John Wayne, and western series on television like the High Chaparral and Bonanza. One particular name stuck out and stayed with him - a cowboy character called Jake. So that was the first part of his new pen name. He also loved a comedy partnership way back when, called Laurel & Hardy - a famous comedy duo from the forties and fifties, who wrote and starred in many slapstick comedy TV episodes and Hollywood movies. They made one particular film called Way Out West (another western theme) about a goldmine and the deeds to it. There is a scene in a saloon with a song - The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. So, I think you can guess? He put them together to make Jake Ridge. |
Tea Cakes: Jake's fav breakfast. |