Helen C. Kelly – Author Interview – A Quintillion Words

“Can they work on their new beginnings together?”
New Beginnings – Helen C. Kelly

After recently reading Helen C. Kelly’s second book in the Greengrove series, New Beginnings, I was keen to learn more about this author’s writing process, her inspirations and even which characters she loved to create. Grab a cuppa and have a read of my latest author interview! You can read my review of New Beginnings here.

1. Jane experiences everyone’s worst nightmare at the start of New Beginnings! Did you feel as protective of her writing these scenes as I did reading them?!

I spent a lot of the time when I was writing Jane’s experiences wanting to reach into the computer and just keep giving her a cuddle. I had to keep reminding myself that it will be ok and I knew if I felt protective then others would too, so it’s nice to know that others feel protective too.

2. I despised Peter (and of course, Stephanie later on) – how do you ensure the ‘bad’ characters you write about get this kind of reaction from your readers?

One of the most important things is to make them believable. It is easy for us to understand and believe that there are characters like Peter and Stephanie about, because we probably know someone or have known someone in our life who are like them. There are people who befriend for what they want or people who are so selfish that they don’t think of anyone else and how they make other people feel and that is how I wanted these characters to come across.

3. Are any of the characters in the book based on people you know in real life, or have you taken some inspiration from real life people?

The characters in my books are mainly fictional, however, there are some parts of those characters that come from people that I know or have known. I love writing stories that involve strong woman although Jane has some difficulties with her relationship at the beginning and she starts questioning herself, she overcomes it all because she has an inner strength. It is this characteristic I have taken from a lot of women I know.

4. I loved the small-town feel and that lots of characters are friends/are related in some way. Again, is this a reflection of your own home town or is it something you’ve created?

This is something that I have created. Throughout my life we have lived and visited various parts of the UK and Greengrove village stems from places that I have loved on my visits, especially my love of canals. I loved the idea of writing stories based around a village where everyone knew everyone, but it wasn’t always a good thing, for instance, the gossip could be a bad thing.

5. Which character did you have the most fun creating in this book?

I loved creating David because he wasn’t born in the village and he didn’t have the same connections as everyone else but I wanted him to be accepted by the village. I think that is something most people feel when moving from home for the first time, even as an adult, anyone new disrupts the order of things in a village so it’s quite fun to write that part of David’s story.

6. Were there any characters who were particularly difficult to create?

I wouldn’t say that there were any characters that were difficult to create but I found the introduction of Peter’s parents difficult to write about. I knew it would introduce a different dimension to the book and may confuse the readers as to why I have introduced more characters into the story. But I wanted the scene where Jane visits Peters parents in there because I knew that it would be something Jane would do, also because they were all so close for a long period of time.

7. In your opinion, what is the best thing about being an author?

I love writing and I always have, being able to tell stories and letting my imagination run free is amazing. Just seeing where my imagination takes me is a bit fun and interesting where a story can end up.

8. What are some of your favourite books and which authors have been your biggest inspiration as a writer?

The question of what my favourite books are is such a difficult question because I read so many books from various genres it depends what mood I am in, I am a mood reader. Another factor is where I am in my writing, because if I am deep in writing I can’t read anything to heavy so I need something with a bit of a comedy light feel, but if I am editing then I can read something heavier.

I think my biggest inspiration has been Marian Keyes. I saw her at an event before Covid and I was listening to her and it was really interesting with what she was saying. I would suggest that anyone who wants to be an author you should go to these talks by authors you love as you can get so much out of them.

9. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

I love what I am doing so I would love to still be sitting in my office creating more stories which people will enjoy. I have things on my author bucket list that I would love to tick off before I retire which include have a book release event with author panel like the one I went to with Marian Keyes. Maybe I will have achieved that in five years time, only time will tell.

10. What are you currently working on?

I am working on book 3 of the Greengrove series. It is Debbie and Connors story and called ‘Hold Me’, which should be out early next year. I also have ideas for book 4 and maybe a mystery book as well.

11. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to new authors?

I think the most important piece of advice is make sure you do your research, not just in what you are writing but also in what you are going to do after you have written. If you love what you are writing then the passion comes through but its after you have finished, when you are looking at publishing, where you need to dedicate time for finding people which suit you and your work.

About the author

Helen is a mother of two grown up daughters living in the North Yorkshire. History and research has always been something she has loved and has three master’s degrees in History which she did later in life. She has always wanted to write but due to being diagnosed as being dyslexic later in life she always thought it was something she couldn’t do but she is proving herself wrong. Along with reading Helen loves visiting many different places in the United Kingdom especially if they have canals or waterfalls.