Jeremy Dronfield Biography

Jeremy Dronfield

Jeremy Dronfield is a versatile, multi-faceted writer with four novels to his name.

He came to writing via a circuitous route. His first serious stopover in life was as an archaeologist. After a few years in rescue excavation, he did his doctoral research at Cambridge University, on the subject of art and religion in prehistoric Ireland. His thesis was published as a series of papers in international journals including Antiquity and Current Anthropology.

While trying to get an academic career in archaeology off the ground, he began dabbling in writing fiction – a pursuit he’d tried intermittently since childhood. 

After a couple of false starts, in 1997 his debut novel The Locust Farm was picked up by an agent, who sold it to Headline for more money than Jeremy had ever seen in his life before. The Locust Farm entered several bestseller lists and was shortlisted for the John Creasey Memorial Dagger award. He followed up with three more novels for Headline (Resurrecting Salvador, Burning Blue, and the critically acclaimed The Alchemist's Apprentice).

Having moved to the Andrew Lownie agency, Jeremy is currently working on a number of fiction projects, all candidates to be the fifth novel. Meanwhile, he has developed a parallel career as a ghost, to which he brings his novelist’s sense of narrative, character and human drama, plus a scholarly skill with source material.

How I Found the Agency

I very much fancied the idea of ghost-writing. I consulted a few people, including my long-standing agent, who suggested I have a word with Andrew Lownie. I gave Andrew a call, and was immediately taken by his warmth, impressed by his professional expertise, and excited by the range of opportunities he made available. I produced a proposal for him; we met and discussed a plan of action, and I signed up.

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