Tell us a bit about
your writing – How long have you been writing? How many books have you written
and in what genres?
I’ve been writing ever since I was a child. In my twenties I
tried a few romances, but didn’t get anywhere with publication. After a long
gap devoted to raising my family and getting back to work, when I finally started
writing again, I wrote a humorous chick-lit which I love, but haven’t find a
home for yet. I went back to straight romance, and Warm Hearts in Winter is my first published novel.
Where is your
favourite spot in which to write? Garden? Study? Kitchen table? In bed?
I write in the attic because that’s where the most reliable
computer is. I’m currently angling for a shed or tiny summer house in the
garden for next spring though …
Do you prefer to
write with pen and paper or straight to the computer?
Definitely straight to the computer. My writing is illegible
and can’t keep up with my brain! But I do scribble lots of notes, and if I’m
out and about filling in time somewhere, I might draft out a scene on scraps of
paper.
Do you plan a plot
out in great detail before writing or start with the basics and let the book
evolve that way?
No, I don’t plot out much at all at the start – I’ll have a
basic premise in mind, and certain points or events that I definitely want to
get to somehow … but beyond that, I tend to allow my characters to take me
where they want to go!
Do you ever get part
way through writing a book and find the characters are leading the story off in
a different direction to how you had envisaged?
Definitely – that’s
the part I like best about writing. For characters to go their own way just
like real people, it means you must have done your job properly creating them.
And it’s fun to see where they lead you (until you realise that great scene
you’d crafted out so lovingly for later in the book no longer fits …)
Is there such a thing
as an average writing day for you and if so what is it?
No, no average writing day. I have a day job and a family,
so for now it’s just a case of grabbing patches of time. I hate doing just ten
minutes here and there, though – I like to have a good stretch, perhaps for a
morning at the weekend, with a decent coffee on my desk!
How do you create the
characters in your books?
They have to be pretty real to me but I’m not sure where
they come from, to be honest. I don’t base them on people I know, maybe just
the odd characteristic. For the hero, I might have a particular actor in mind
to start with … but by the end of the book, that’s long forgotten and he’s his
own man.
What is your
favourite book of all time?
That’s tough! I’d probably go with The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger, because it made such a huge
impression on me in my mid-teens. We had to read it in school and not all my
friends enjoyed it, but I really got Holden
Caulfield. I read it in the early-eighties and had no idea it had been written thirty
years before until I was nearly at the end of the book.
What is your
favourite film of all time?
Some Like It Hot.
That film hasn’t got one wasted word – the script is superb and the acting …
well, who can think of Jack Lemmon and Joe E Brown doing the tango without
smiling? My kids and I can pretty much quote it verbatim and we still watch it
every couple of years or so.
Biggest myth about
being a novelist?
Writing a book’s easy, isn’t it? Anyone can do it … all they
need is a laptop. And anyone can earn money like J K Rowling if they just
persevere like she did.
Advice to aspiring
novelists?
Don’t believe the myths!
About the book:
Warm Hearts in Winter
by Helen Pollard
Can two hearts thaw on the midwinter moors?
Forced by circumstance into the world of temping, when Abby
Davis accepts an assignment in the wilds of Yorkshire as personal assistant to
a widowed novelist, she assumes he is an ageing recluse.
Thirty-something Jack Blane is anything but. Still
struggling to get his life and writing career back on track three years after
his wife’s death, Jack isn’t ready for a breath of fresh air like Abby.
Snowed in at his winter retreat on the moors, as the weeks
go by and their working relationship becomes friendship and maybe more, Abby
must rethink her policy of never getting involved with someone at work … and
Jack must decide whether he is willing to risk the pain of love a second time.
Grab a copy of the book
Amazon.com
Excerpt from Chapter
One:
Abby chewed
her lip in anxious concentration as she peered through the windscreen, her
fingers gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white. The narrow
country road would be hard to negotiate at the best of times, but in the dark
and the snow it was almost impossible. Despite her slow speed, the full beam
from her headlights barely showed a bend until she was almost upon it — but
since there was nowhere to turn around, all she could do was grit her teeth,
stay calm and fervently hope her satnav didn't lead her down a sheep track or
into a swollen river.
She allowed
herself a soft curse at the weather and directed another at Casey while she was
at it. It was all her fault this was happening. No, that wasn't true. Her
friend was only trying to help, and it was because of their friendship that
Abby had been foolish enough to accept this assignment. That and the fact she'd
had little choice in the matter. Her recent bad luck — if that was what you
could call it — hadn't allowed her the luxury of choice. She needed a job. Her
best friend managed a temping agency. A job came up. Abby had exactly ten
minutes to decide whether to accept the post of personal assistant to some
thriller writer she'd never heard of. Casey had heard of him and recommended
she did. Actually, she reminded her she was in no position to refuse. It would
be a challenge, Casey said. Unusual, Casey said. Abby trusted her and accepted.
And now look.
Desperate to set off before the weather deteriorated, she'd packed in such a
hurry she'd probably forgotten half of what she needed, and she'd been driving
for two hours through conditions that only got worse by the minute. She wasn't
sure her ageing car could take much more. The wipers were clogged with the
thick snowflakes that swirled across the windscreen, reducing visibility to
virtually nothing. She had no idea what she would do if something came in the
opposite direction — although she was so far out in the middle of nowhere she
doubted there was another soul around. That is, apart from Jack Blane — her new
boss for the next few weeks — who in his wisdom had chosen to write his latest
novel miles from civilization on the bleak Yorkshire
moors in the worst winter weather for years. Abby had heard writers liked
solitude, but this was ridiculous!
Just as she
was beginning to think this whole thing must be a bad dream, her satnav archly
informed her she was nearly there. Abby slowed her car to a crawl, peering over
the steering wheel like an old lady who'd forgotten her glasses.
"Nearly where?"
she asked the machine's know-it-all voice.
A dark shape
loomed at the side of the road, and she screeched to a halt. Not a bright move.
The car skidded nearly full circle, and Abby had to fight both the wheel and
her own panic to regain control. Her heart thudding, she opened the driver's window
and stuck her head out. A house of forbidding dark stone, dusted liberally with
snow, stood silhouetted against the grey sky. Abby glared at her satnav and
back at the house. Well, this must be it. There was certainly nowhere else in
sight.
"Great.
Out of the frying pan and straight onto the set of Wuthering Heights," she
muttered.
About the Author:
Helen Pollard writes contemporary romance
with old-fashioned heart. She firmly believes there will always be a place for
romantic fiction, no matter how fast-paced and cynical the world becomes.
Readers still want that feel-good factor - to escape from their own world for a
while and see how a budding romance can blossom and overcome adversity to
develop into love ... and we all need a little love, right?
A Yorkshire lass, Helen is married, with two teenagers. They share space with a Jekyll and Hyde cat that alternates between being obsessively affectionate and viciously psychotic. Antiseptic cream is always close at hand.
When Helen’s not working or writing, it goes without saying that she loves to read. She also enjoys a good coffee in a quiet bookshop, and appreciates the company of family and close friends.
Find Helen on:
Thank you for having me, Zanna!
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