Harrogate author's London Tube poster fame

Amanda Taylor, who specialises in historical crime stories, travelled down to the city herself to see the poster unveiled advertising her new novel, Aram, a murder mystery set in 18th century Knaresborough.The poster for the book is being displayed at 50 sites on the London Tube.Literary success has come late to Amanda, in her sixties, who now lives in the middle of a grouse moornear Thruscross Reservoir in the Dales to the west of Harrogate.She is a former long distance swimmer. Her current success follows more than 20 years of trying.She began by self-publishing and first dreamed of being a novelist as a young girl.Amanda said: “My father was a crime reporter when I was a little girl. Perhaps that’s why I started writing mystery stories aged seven. Later I wrote historical articles for Yorkshire magazines as a freelancer. All the while I was thinking of being an author.

“I knew I needed an agent if I was to have any hopes of being a novelist but it took years to get one. “Eventually I did manage it 15 years ago but she couldn’t sell the book. Just getting an agent kept me going. I thought maybe I will get the break but I didn’t.” Amanda will also be appearing on BBC Radio York shortly.