 |
| Hello everyone! |
 |
| Welcome to my Blog! Wander through wonderful worlds real and fictional, meet interesting people, visit exciting places and find a few good books to enjoy along the way! |
 |
| my home in Devon (anyone spot which other author featured this week used my house for a front cover?) |
No disrespect to the authors taking part this week - but we're all of 'an advanced age' and several of us have various aches, pains and health issues, but we keep writing and although we might come under the heading 'aging crocks' we've amassed a good bit of writing wisdom and are still very much creative where our author's imagination is concerned.
So, let's meet another Creative Crock...ME!
I started writing when I was 12 or 13 - and believe me that was some while ago now. I'm 71 on April 13th ... today! And these past few weeks I have felt very much like an old crock, though not necessarily a creative one. (I have the ideas, it's getting them written down that's the challenge!)
Arthritis. Left knee and hip - which basically means entire left leg. It hurts. I have a little arthritis in my hands too, since 2020 after I fell over and was stomped on by a big horse. Not his fault, actually he managed to, mostly, avoid my sprawled body. It could have been really nasty!) Flat on your face onto concrete, though, isn't good... Ouch!
Do you want to see the bruise I had? (look away now if you're of a nervous disposition.)
I also have Glaucoma, which has resulted in wonky sight. Thank goodness for technology - large font on the PC and Kindle. (I can't read actual books any more, so rely on editors and Beta Readers to find the errors I miss. Enthusiastic New Beta Readers to check final drafts apply here :-)
So writing is a bit of a struggle for me, but to be honest what would I do if I wasn't writing? I can't bend or stand to do gardening. Walking is painful, watching TV is not easy (I have difficulty recognising faces, which sometimes makes cop and crime drama a tad difficult to follow.) Yep. I'm definitely an old crock!
I started writing stories because I desperately wanted a pony. We couldn't afford one so I made one up and had loads of fictional adventures with her. Didn't everyone do that? I was devastated when I discovered that no, they didn't.
I didn't do very well at school, apart from in English. When I was fifteen the English mistress, Mrs Llewellyn, wrote, in red pen that dreaded 'see me after class' beneath an essay. Mrs L was a Welsh Dragon. What had I done wrong?
"Now then Helen," she said, "this is good but it could be a lot better." And she proceeded to show me how to make it better. The foundation of becoming a writer.
My first book published was for young children -- what we used to call 'stranger danger'. I wrote it in 1985 for my daughter Kathy (then three years old) because I wanted to tell her how to keep safe without frightening her. A story seemed the best way, so I wrote Come and Tell Me. It was immediately accepted by a children's publisher and was in print for ten years before being taken up as the official UK Home Office safety book and therefore, used by the police and all schools in England and Wales. Sadly it is out of print now, but still available second hand (which is fine - children's safety is far more important!) My biggest thrill was hearing from a Mum who found a copy for her four year-old and remembered it from her own childhood.
 |
| available second hand |
 |
| The Forever Queen (US edition) a USA TODAY BESTSELLER A Hollow Crown (UK edition) |
Yes, to write a novel was the dream which kept me going from being that thirteen-year-old who hated school, to my fortieth birthday in 1993.
I'd discovered historical fiction in the meantime, and spent more than ten years writing a novel about King Arthur ... what might have been nearer a real King Arthur (discounting the fact that he hadn't actually ever existed.) I placed him in the more plausible era of the 5th and 6th centuries, in post-Roman Britain.
I was lucky. in the 1980s I became friends with the late, great Sharon K. Penman. I'd written to her thanking her for writing Here Be Dragons, adding that I had a dream of becoming a writer, telling her about my Arthur novel blah blah, but I couldn't see the dream coming true.
She wrote back (and this was in the days before the Internet had been unleashed, so typewriters, pen, ink and paper mail!) Her exact words: "Helen, if you can make a four page letter as interesting as yours was, I can't wait to read the book."
She offered to read a couple of chapters, then showed me where I was going wrong (POV changes and too many long sentences) and when I'd polished what I had, she introduced me to her agent.
Cut the story short - I was offered a three book deal with William Heinemann (Random House UK). I hadn't realised that the huge pile of typewritten manuscript had enough words for two books, not one, so the result was my Pendragon's Banner Trilogy and I was accepted for publication a week after that 40th birthday back in 1993.
A lot of water under several bridges since then, including going solo as a self-published author when that agent let me down big time in 2005/6.
She didn't like my idea for a pirate adventure. Hated the concept, hated my lead character's name, Jesamiah Acorne and sent the first fifty pages of that rough draft back with red crossing out and a plethora of cruel, sarcastic comments in the margins. She telephone to tell me: "By the way, Random House has dropped you."
I spent two weeks sobbing. Then picked myself up, re-wrote what became Sea Witch and, determined to prove her wrong, carried on as an Indie author. The Sea Witch Voyages are proving to be popular, Jesamiah has followers world wide.
Since then I've also branched out into writing cosy mysteries set in the 1970s and based around my years working in the library, intermingled with where I live now, in Devon.
Some of the background detail to the mysteries are autobiographical. Some aren't. You can have fun deciding which are which. (hint: the murders and the romance are 100% made up.)
 |
| South Chingford Library featured in the Jan Christopher Series (photo © Alison Morton) |
.jpg) |
set in the 1970s |
 |
| The original photograph of our top field, which became the background for A Meadow Murder (graphic created by www.avalongraphics.org ) |
I've written non-fiction books about pirates and smugglers, I'm in the process of writing another for Amberley Press about the ghosts of North Devon (we have a few ghosts residing with us in our 18th century farmhouse.)
Oh, and the creativity is still alive and kicking because I have recently finished the fifth episode of the Jan Christopher Cosy Mystery series A Memory of Murder - I hope to publish it during May (watch this space!). And next will be the seventh Jesamiah Acorne nautical adventure ... as long as the arthritis can be kept at bay...
 |
| Cover reveal for A MEMORY OF MURDER coming soon! |
1) If you had a chance to go anywhere (for free!) where would you go?
I'd like to go back to San Francisco, I had a super time there staying with my friend Connie, but to be honest, I'm more than content here in Devon. Nothing can match living where I do in the heart of the Taw Valley.
 |
| Golden Gate Bridge, taken while thoroughly enjoying a boat trip round San Francisco Bay |
2) Anything you regret?
Yes, I wish I'd realised that my ex-agent wasn't looking after me at all. I trusted her. I shouldn't have done. I'd stayed loyal when she started her own business, she never repaid that loyalty. In hindsight I should have remained with the original company. Me bitter? well, yes. I'll never forgive her.
3) Anything you're pleased about?
Yes, moving to Devon in 2013. Best thing, as a family, that we ever did!
4) You've found a magic lamp and the genie has granted you three wishes...
[1] that someone would have the insight to back a movie project I've been involved with for over 25 years now. There's never been a top quality movie about the events that led to the Battle of Hastings. 1066 The Movie is based around my novel Harold the King (I Am The Chosen King in the US) The producer has an excellent script, several interested top actors and we're ready to go... all we need is the funding to make our movie...
[2] My daughter struggled with her showjumping confidence during the Covid years. She's more or less got it back now and is returning to serious competing, but she now drives herself in the horsebox to shows so please, Genie, keep her safe and keep that confidence boosted. I'm SO proud of her! I wish someone would come forward to sponsor her though, she struggles with competition entry fees and deserves her ability and dedication to be recognised.
[3] Can I ask you, Genie, to arrange for this bloomin' arthritic hip and knee of mine to be seen to asap?
5) Is the hassle of writing worth the effort these days? Any advice for writers getting started or needing a confidence boost?
If you're going to do it, do it properly and professionally. Get your work professionally edited. Have a professional design your cover. Ensure the end result is formatted and printed properly - compare what you have to a traditionally published novel.
Being able to self-publish and not rely on agents or publishing houses is a great asset BUT don't expect to become the next millionaire J K Rowling. Regard your writing as an enjoyable hobby and you won't go wrong.
My thanks to everyone who has supported me - family, obviously, but also my friends Elizabeth Chadwick, Annie, Alison, Anna, Elizabeth St John et al... and especially Cathy Helms of www.avalongraphics.org for designing my covers and various marketing graphics these last 14 or so years. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her! Thank you everyone!
You'll find more about my books below...
*** ***
You might also like
more books written by Helen Hollick
Website: https://helenhollick.net/
Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
*
The SEA WITCH VOYAGES
nautical adventures set during the Golden Age of Piracy
 |
| Coffee Pot Book Club Bronze Award2022 |
*
THE SAXON SERIES
 |
| The story of the events that led to The Battle of Hastings in 1066 Harold the King (UK edition) I Am The Chosen King (US edition) 1066 Turned Upside Down an anthology of 'What If'' tales |
KING ARTHUR
The Pendragon's Banner Trilogy
The Boy Who became a Man:
Who became a King:
Who became a Legend...
 |
| Book 1 -THE KINGMAKING Coffee Pot Book Club Bronze Award 2023 |
 |
THE PENDRAGON's BANNER TRILOGY |
 |
| US editions |
*
 |
Historical Stories of Exile by 13 popular authors Cryssa Bazos, Anna Belfrage, Elizabeth Chadwick, Cathie Dunn, J.G. Harlond, Helen Hollick, Loretta Livingstone, Amy Maroney Alison Morton, Charlene Newcomb, Elizabeth St.John, Marian L Thorpe, Annie Whitehead. With an introduction by Deborah Swift |
*
 |
| Amazon: FREE ebook! |
NON-FICTION
*
 | |
|
*
Opening up about the trials and tribulations of one's passion is so important especially for new writers who might at first have grand illusions, only to give up. The same even goes for us "old ones." Besides, this peek behind the curtains of a novelist so admired is simply grand. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HELEN.
ReplyDelete