Stories by JKM Rathbone 

Writing about people who make a mess of things in very pretty places

Writing about people who make a mess of things in very pretty placesWriting about people who make a mess of things in very pretty placesWriting about people who make a mess of things in very pretty places
FAQs

Stories by JKM Rathbone 

Writing about people who make a mess of things in very pretty places

Writing about people who make a mess of things in very pretty placesWriting about people who make a mess of things in very pretty placesWriting about people who make a mess of things in very pretty places
FAQs

A little bit about me

JKM Rathbone = Jenna Kate McKinlay Rathbone


I'm a New Zealand writer living on Australia's Gold Coast, where I work as a Communications Manager. Through writing, I've discovered I have a habit of turning places I love into settings for terrible things. I started writing my debut novel, Beneath the Surface, before the pandemic, but it found its home when I was living beside Lake Wakatipu during lockdown. When I'm not writing, I'm usually doing hot yoga, hiking somewhere with a view, finding an excuse to have an audiobook in my ears, or hanging out with my dog, Kona (the love of my life), who has contributed very little to my manuscript despite being present for most of it.

Where I'm at

The book

What's next

The search

Beneath the Surface is my debut commercial novel with elements of mystery and romance, set among the lakes and mountains of New Zealand's South Island. It's finished and currently looking for a home.

The search

What's next

The search

I'm currently looking for representation and, more importantly, the right person to build a writing career with. Someone who loves complicated and emotional characters and a little darkness hiding behind a pretty place.

What's next

What's next

What's next

I don't want to write one book. I want to build a career telling stories that make people feel something and leave them thinking about it when they should be snoozing.

Beneath the Surface

What if the person you loved most left behind a life you knew nothing about? When Thea's partner of ten years disappears into Lake Wakatipu, she is left grieving a man she thought she knew completely. A year later, she discovers he had an older brother he'd never mentioned. And that's only the first lie. 

The people behind Beneath the Surface

Thea

Jackson

Jackson

A journalist (kind of) who has spent the past year learning how to live without the person she thought she'd grow old with. Then she discovers there were parts of his life she knew nothing about.

Jackson

Jackson

Jackson

The man Thea loved for ten years, and the reason she has so many questions. He's missing, presumed dead, which makes getting answers from him pretty difficult.

Brandt

Jackson

Granny May

The first person to make Thea believe she might actually be able to move on. Then she discovers who he is... Jackson's brother. A brother who was never mentioned. 

Granny May

Granny May

Granny May

She’s spent years protecting the people she loves from a past she’d rather leave buried. But some secrets become harder to protect the longer you keep them.

Matu

Granny May

Frankie

He lost his sister long before Thea lost Jackson. Then, somewhere between the two, he developed feelings that he was never able to speak out loud.

Frankie

Granny May

Frankie

The friend who’ll hold your hand through the worst year of your life and still tell you when you’re being an idiot.

A few things you might be wondering

I write commercial fiction with elements of mystery and romance. I like stories driven by people and relationships. Secrets help. Lies help too. Oh, and I like something a little unsettling running underneath it all. I love writing places you can see and feelings you can almost feel, then letting my characters make a mess of it all.

Years and years and years and years. No lie! I started writing it before the pandemic, then life happened. The book has been written, rewritten, pulled apart and put back together more times than I can count. Sometimes I thought finishing it was a dream I'd never accomplish. But here I am! The version I started with and the one that exists now would NOT recognise each other.

Hopefully in the bestseller section. But in all seriousness, probably commercial fiction, somewhere between contemporary, mystery and romance. Beneath the Surface has a bit of all three. There’s a mystery that keeps you guessing, a love story in there too, and a whole lot of complicated people keeping things from each other.

I'm not sure I'm qualified to be giving writing advice... yet. But I've learnt a few things the hard way. Finish the first draft. Don't spend six months perfecting Chapter One while Chapter Twenty doesn't exist. Trust the reader. You don't need to explain absolutely everything in great detail. When something isn't working, there's usually a reason (and yes, sometimes it takes an annoyingly long time to figure out what it is). Draft Two is way better than Draft One. Draft Three is way better than Draft Two. Draft Four... you get it.

Someone who wants to build a career together, not just sell one book. I'm looking for an agent who loves character-driven commercial fiction and isn't afraid to tell me when something isn't working. And I'd love to have a laugh along the way!

Yes. More than an idea! I'm about 20,000 words in. I'm keeping most of it to myself for now, but yes, I will still be putting complicated people in beautiful places and giving them A LOT of problems.

I like being a little anonymous. Just a little. JKM Rathbone = Jenna Kate McKinlay Rathbone.

It's home. Even though I live in Australia now, New Zealand is the landscape I seem to return to when I write. Mountains, lakes, tiny towns and places beautiful enough to make you forget something terrible could happen there. Which, obviously, makes them excellent places for terrible things to happen.

Life between the chapters

Come along for my messy journey

Say hello!

For writing or representation things, or just to say hi, you can find me here.

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