It’s another month, and another of our authors’ Round Robins… This month our topic is set by author Fiona McGier: Where do ideas come from? Creative inspiration seems like a sort of magic, and one of the wonders of the human mind. It’s amazing to think how an idea or image in someone else’s brain…… Continue reading Where Do Ideas Come From? 6 Tips on Finding Inspiration
This week fellow Romantic Novelists’ Association member and Yorkshire lass, Rhoda Baxter, is releasing her contemporary romance Girl in Trouble. Rhoda has come up with a brilliant idea to celebrate, which is to ask her friends to write posts all based on the same theme and publish them on the day of release. I love this,…… Continue reading Blessings in Disguise – Finding Writing Inspiration and Romance in Unlikely Places
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, or read any of my books, you’ll know how important setting is to me in my writing. In this post about Richmond Park, for example, I wrote about how I tried to combine the setting for The Antique Love with the theme of the book, and how I used…… Continue reading How to research a location you haven’t actually been to #amwriting
Today (Aug 27th) is the last day to download a FREE Kindle copy of my contemporary romance, The Silk Romance. If you haven’t got your copy yet and would like one, here are a few of the international Amazon links: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon IN (and it’s available in all the Amazon…… Continue reading Last day to download a #FREE Kindle copy of The Silk Romance
This month the subject of our Round Robin is research. How much do we do as writers? Does it bother us if we come across inaccuracies in a novel? My novels are all set in the present day, but they still involve a lot of research. If I make a mistake about something that’s current,…… Continue reading Writing a novel: why research is vital in stories
This week I’m trying something new. I’m taking part in a Round Robin with several other authors, in which we all write an article on the same topic, and publish it on the same day. I’ve never written a post like this before, but I’m quite excited about it – especially about seeing what the…… Continue reading Abandoned: the empty mills of Yorkshire
A couple of weeks ago I divulged the exciting news that my first novel, The Silk Romance, is a contender for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Award for new writers. For the past few weeks I’ve been interviewing many of the other authors who are up for the same award, and showcasing their novels. Today I…… Continue reading My leading lady, Sophie, plus some useful sites for writers
Today sees the release of The Silk Romance, and I can’t tell you how excited I am! Well, actually, I could tell you, but I’d have to use so many adjectives my Thesaurus would implode :) I still have to pinch myself when I tell people The Silk Romance is available here on Amazon UK,…… Continue reading Cocktails, champagne and red, white and blue. The Silk Romance book launch :)
I mentioned earlier this week, in my post Saltaire, Lyon and weavers’ stories, that I’d downloaded Liz Trenow’s The Last Telegram, a romance in which the silk industry plays an integral role. The novel has been waiting patiently for me to pick it up, and now I’ve finished it – and thoroughly enjoyed it :)…… Continue reading Parachutes, bombs and silk: a review of Liz Trenow’s The Last Telegram
A few months ago I wrote a post on silk-weaving in the city of Lyon, the setting for my novel, The Silk Romance. Today I’m writing about my home town of Saltaire, since the two places have a lot in common. Salt’s Mill, a former woollen mill Leeds-Liverpool Canal outside Salt’s Mill At first it…… Continue reading A weaver’s stories of Saltaire and Lyon, and a gallery of photos
Helena Fairfax 