Helena Fairfax

Working as a writer and editor means working alone a lot of the time, and to be honest, as an introvert this is something I enjoy. Some mornings, there’s nothing better than knowing you don’t have to talk to anyone but your dog, and my poor dog never seems bored of listening to me :)

But writing and editing has also opened up a whole new world to me, and since having my first book published five years ago I’ve made some great friends. Author Marie Laval is French, but she’s lived in Lancashire for many years. A few years ago we arranged to meet up for lunch, and since I live in Yorkshire we met near the border between our two counties, in the little town of Hebden Bridge. It was lovely to meet Marie in real life and we decided to invite more authors to join us, and now there is quite a group of us Lancashire and Yorkshire romance authors who meet regularly in Hebden Bridge. Since we all work alone a lot of the time, you can imagine how much chat goes on when we get together!

There are some talented and award-winning writers in our Hebden Bridge group of northern romance authors, and I’ve spent some very happy hours immersed in their books. Last year I asked them if they’d be interested in collaborating on an anthology. I was really chuffed when they all loved the idea!

And so this was the start of a group of Yorkshire and Lancashire authors putting together a collection of feel-good romances, which we called Miss Moonshine’s Emporium of Happy Endings. And because we meet on the border between our two counties, our publishing name is Authors on the Edge. :)

The Authors on the Edge group of authors are:

Mary Jayne Baker, Sophie Claire, Jacqui Cooper, Helena Fairfax, Kate Field, Melinda Hammond, Marie Laval, Helen Pollard, and Angela Wren.

All nine of us spent a while over lunch in Hebden Bridge one day discussing a theme to tie all our stories together, and we decided to have every story set in the same shop in the fictional mill town of Haven Bridge – a shop run by the eccentric and mysterious Miss Moonshine.

Here is a photo of a real building in Hebden Bridge, which we used as the setting for Miss Moonshine’s shop:

You might just be able to make out the year 1777 on the lintel above the door. The building used to be a chapel many years ago, but our Miss Moonshine now runs her shop from these premises :)

We each write in a variety of styles – historical and contemporary romance, mystery and romantic comedy – and as all our stories have come together it’s been fascinating and really good fun to see the take we all have had on this one premise of Miss Moonshine’s Wonderful Emporium in Haven Bridge.

It’s been an absolute delight to work on this anthology with this group of authors from start to finish, and I’m very excited and proud to say that the Kindle version of the anthology is now on pre-order on Amazon, and there will be a paperback to follow. The anthology will be released on May 18th 2018.

Here’s our lovely cover, designed by talented Yorkshire lass Mary Jayne Baker

And here is the blurb:

Sometimes what you need is right there waiting for you…

Miss Moonshine’s Wonderful Emporium has stood in the pretty Yorkshire town of Haven Bridge for as long as anyone can remember. With her ever-changing stock, Miss Moonshine has a rare gift for providing exactly what her customers need: a fire opal necklace that provides a glimpse of a different life; a novel whose phantom doodler casts a spell over the reader; a music box whose song links love affairs across the generations. One thing is for certain: after visiting Miss Moonshine’s quirky shop, life is never the same again…

Nine romantic novelists from Yorkshire and Lancashire, including best-selling and award-winning authors, have joined together to create this collection of uplifting stories guaranteed to warm your heart. This intriguing mix of historical and contemporary romances will make you laugh, cry, and believe in the happy-ever-after.

And here is the link on Amazon – if you’re looking for a set of happy stories to cheer you up after the winter, then we hope you’ll enjoy these tales from a group of northern lasses!