Paul Jones Biography

Paul Jones

Paul Anthony Jones was born in South Shields in 1983. Graduating with a Masters degree in English from the University of Newcastle in 2009, his first book The British Isles: A Trivia Gazetteer (2012) was inspired by a university study into the origins of English place names. This was quickly followed by two guides to English etymology, Haggard Hawks & Paltry Poltroons (2013) – named as one of best language titles of the year by The Guardian – and its sequel, Jedburgh Justice & Kentish Fire (2014). Paul also runs the popular tie-in Twitter account, @HaggardHawks, which has attracted more than 5,000 followers and was recently named as one of Twitter’s best language accounts.

Paul has also written for The Guardian and The Huffington Post, and now contributes a weekly words and language column to Mental_Floss magazine. Alongside writing, he is a classically trained pianist and piano teacher with a keen interest in the works of JS Bach.

He lives in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. 

How I Found the Agency

I first came across Andrew Lownie’s agency in The Writer’s Handbook, and immediately picked it out
as one of the best potential agencies for my work. I signed up to his online newsletter, read all of the
relevant submission information and advice that his excellent website has to offer and, following its
thorough guidelines, sent off my submission proposal. Within twenty-four hours I had received a
telephone call requesting the full manuscript, and the day after that received an email asking to take
me on.

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