1: How did you start
writing?
I started imagining stories in my head
when I was bored commuting by train every day. The days when it was rainy and
cold were really bad – everyone all pressed up together, sneezing and coughing and
wet clothes steaming. It was too packed even to open a book, so in my head I
pictured stories set somewhere beautifully warm, like the south of France –
with a hot French hero! Took my mind off the journey, anyway!
2: What is the one
thing you most enjoy about writing? Least enjoy?
I love to write scenes full of high drama or emotion. It’s a
great feeling to create a world where two people meet and fall in love, and to
be able to steer that world so that those people get the happy ending they
deserve. And when a reader tells me how much they loved my story, that gives me
more pleasure than anything!
I least enjoy the times when I have a scene in my head that
I want to convey, but I can’t get the right words down for it, and I have to
keep writing and rewriting until it feels right. That’s very frustrating, and
often makes me lose confidence in myself.
3: If you could go
back in time and talk to anyone, who would you speak to? Why?
Apart from the people I’ve loved who have died, I’d like to go
back to meet Charles Dickens. He wrote stories that people adored in his time,
and they couldn’t wait to read the next instalment. They were full of
fantastical characters, and he had a lot of compassion for the underdog and the
less well off in life. I’d like to meet him and discover what sort of man he
was.
4: When you write do
you plot out the story or do you let your muse run wild?
I used to let the muse run wild when I first started
writing, but that led to a lot of rewriting of drafts. Now I structure it more
in advance – but not too much, as I don’t like to feel hemmed in by an outline.
5: Tell us a bit
about your book.
The Antique Love is set in an antique shop in London. The
shop’s owner, Penny, takes on a project refurbishing an old Victorian house for
its American owner, Kurt. Kurt’s a logical man, who believes the head should
rule the heart – but when he meets Penny, he finds love isn’t quite as logical
as he thinks!
6: What inspired the
story?
I got the idea when I was feeling really ill, with a high
temperature, and was mindlessly watching the TV. A programme came on that was
all about travelling around antique shops in England, and I started thinking
how wonderful it would be to own such a shop – and then my imagination just
took off from there :)
7: Is this a series
or a stand alone novel?
It’s a stand alone novel, but I might revisit it at some
time. The heroine has a great friend, Tehmeena, and I’d quite like to write her
story, too.
8: What advice would
you give an author just starting out?
Don’t give up. Sit down to write, and get that book
finished, no matter how much of a slog it is. Don’t give up. When you’ve sent
off your manuscript, sit down to write the next book. Don’t give up. Read,
read, read. And did I say don’t give up? :)
9: How do you balance
writing with the demands of everyday life?
When I was working full time, I was always thinking of how
to advance my plot, even when I was at work. I would write everywhere – on the
train, waiting at a bus stop, whilst cooking tea. Now I’ve finished work, and
it’s easier to balance the time, but I have a very stressed rescue dog who
takes up a lot of my time. I write round her schedule!
10: How much research
do you do for your writing?
I research everything. Even though my romances are
contemporaries, there are always details that need checking. The Antique Love
is set near London’s Richmond Park, for example, and I did a lot of research
into the history of the park, and visited several times in order to incorporate
the setting.
11: If you met a
genie, what 3 things would you wish for? Why?
That’s a really good question. I’d wish for things on a
global scale: an end to world poverty; an end to mental health problems; that
every person in the world achieved the best he or she was capable of.
12: What is the one
thing about the writing world that most surprised you?
How supportive other romance authors are, and the great
friendships I’ve made.
13: What are you
currently working on?
I’m working on a novel set in a hotel in the picturesque
Lake District in northern England. The hotel owner has recently died, and his
son has returned to try and restore the hotel’s finances. The hotel is beset by
tragedy, and so the arrival of the heroine is like a breath of fresh air - but
she, too, has left family problems behind her. Will her optimism and the hero’s
strength of character be enough to keep them together? Or will the problems of
their past catch up with them?
14: What do you like
to do when you aren’t writing?
I live near the Yorkshire moors, which is a beautiful area,
and I walk there every day with my dog. I love to watch the wildlife and the
changing seasons. When I’m not out walking, or writing, and after the day’s
over, I like to sit in front of the TV with my knitting or a piece of tapestry.
15: What is the one
thing you’d like people to know about you?
That’s another difficult question! Maybe I’d like them to
know how much I like other people.
5 Bonus Questions
16: What’s your
favorite color?
Green
17: What’s your
favorite food?
Christmas dinner (turkey and all the trimmings)
18: Favorite TV show?
Frasier
19: Favorite Movie?
High Society
Here is the blurb to The
Antique Love:
One rainy day in London, Wyoming man Kurt Bold walks into
an antique shop off the King’s Road, looking every inch the romantic hero. The shop’s owner, Penny Rosas, takes this
handsome stranger for a cowboy straight from the pages of a book… but Kurt soon brings Penny’s dreams to earth
with a thump. He’s no romantic
cowboy—his job is in the City, in the logical world of finance—and as far as
Kurt is concerned, love and romance are just for dreamers. Events in his childhood have scarred his
heart, showing him just how destructive passionate love can be. Now he’s looking for a wife, but wants a
marriage based on logic and rational decisions.
Penny is a firm believer in true love.
She’s not the sensible wife Kurt’s looking for. But when he hires Penny to help refurbish his
Victorian house near Richmond Park, it’s not long before he starts to realise
it’s not just his home she’s breathing new life into. The logical heart he has guarded so carefully
all these years is opening up to new emotions, in a most disturbing way…
Buy links:
MuseItUp Publishing: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/now-available-in-ebook/the-antique-love-detail
Apple iBooks https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id692391079
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/367430
Social links:
You can find Helena on her blog: www.helenafairfax.com
Please get in touch – I love to meet new people!
*
Thanks so much for
having me, Kat, and for your soul-searching questions! It’s been lovely meeting
you here!
10 comments:
103Thanks for having me, Kat. Have been loving your summer bash!
Great interview, Kat and Helena!
Helena, I loved The Antique Love, and your WIP sounds delightful! Can't wait to read it.
Thank you for a great interview Kat and Helena. I really loved The Antique Love and your first novel, The Silk Romance, and I can't wait to read your new romance. The Lake District is a wonderful setting. I didn't realise you liked High Society. My mother used to have the album and I grew up singing 'Who wants to be a millionaire...I don't'!
Nice interview! Green is my favorite color, too!
Thanks for the nice interview. In love to read about how other authors got started and what stimulates their muse.
Enjoyable interview, Helena and Kat! Thank you. Helena, I liked your answer to Kat's question, the one thing about the writing world that surprised you.
Also your three wishes from a genie were so noble. :)
Susan
Thanks, all, for your lovely comments! Marie, I've started singing that song now, too! :) So happy to read your comments about my WIP. I often start to think my writing is rubbish, so the comments here have spurred me on to get on with finishing it!
Great interview! I'd love to read Tehmeena's story. Hope you have time for it some day!
Thanks, Heather! I have some ideas in mind. Thanks for your comment!
Helena it was a joy to have you. I must admit, now I have to buy The Antique Love and read it.:-) Sounds like a great story.
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