Born in Walthamstow, North East London, in 1953 I began writing at the age of 13. Leaving school, I worked in a local library where I stayed for 13 years although I was not very happy – I did not realise it, I wanted to write. The one advantage was the access to books, and I became hooked on Roman Britain – and King Arthur! By this time, I was married with a young daughter. I had time on my hands and so I started writing my idea of Arthurian Britian. I ended up with enough words to make a trilogy.
I found an agent who placed me with William Heinemann – I was accepted for publication just after my 40th birthday. I had previously had a smaller success with a children's personal safety book (stranger danger) called "Come and Tell Me."
My fourth historical novel is about King Harold II and the sequence of events that led to one of the most famous battles in English history – Hastings in 1066, while my fifth book is a prequel to Harold (A Hollow Crown) I am also connected to a major project – ‘1066 the movie’ as co-scriptwriter and general advisor. We hope to start shooting in 2010.
In 2005 I had a disagreement with my agent – I felt she was not listening to how I wanted to expand as a writer, so we parted company.
Simultaneously, William Heinemann decided not to print any more of my backlist, and so I became redundant. I moped for two weeks then decided to pick myself up and start afresh. I obtained the copyright to my books and took them to Discovered Authors. I also decided to go ahead with the project that my ex-agent was not interested in – a series of pirate-based nautical adventures, starting with the first “voyage of Captain Jesamiah Acorne” – Sea Witch.
I describe these books as “a typical sailor’s yarn” for unlike my historical novels, these are partial fantasy, and are for adult reading.
Nor am I “self published” now. DA has expanded and I am one of their top authors in the mainstream DA Diamond Imprint. Plus I am mainstream published in the USA & Canada with Sourcebooks Inc – so things continue to look bright and I eagerly await the future.
Helen
Go to Author's Website: Click Here
