Helena Halme's Blog, page 16
March 24, 2017
My love affair with London
I’ve always adored London.
The Englishman with his beloved Triumph SpitfireI remember the first time I came to the city with The Englishman. We were young and in love; he drove me around the London landmarks – including across Westminster Bridge and past the Houses of Parliament. He had a Spitfire, a yellow, open-top sports car. It was a sunny Sunday in late August and I stood up in the car, taking pictures with a wind-up camera. The year was 1981 and in those days, on a Sunday, the city was quiet and there was little traffic so we could even stop outside Big Ben for me to take a closer look.
A few years later I was back in Westminster, doing research into my thesis on British Politics. Outside the entrance to the Commons, I bumped into David Owen, one of the main subjects of my thesis (I was writing about the birth of the SDP, which is now part of the Liberal Democrats). To this day, I regret that I didn’t stop him and ask for a mini-interview, but I was young and shy, and not too confident with my English language skills. Oh well, I did write a letter to him a few years later and even got a personal reply, so I sort of redeemed myself.
During the years that followed, I came to London often, and always dreamed of one day living here. Even when there were terrorist attacks during the IRA years, and then 7/7 with such awful, senseless, loss of life, I felt I belonged in London.
So you can imagine how happy I was when at last, nearly 7 years ago now, we decided to up sticks and come to live in London.
With The Englishman having laugh and a drink in a local North London pubFor the first couple of years, it was as if we were on holiday; we went to every play, every exhibition, ate at every new restaurant (OK almost!). We’ve calmed down a little now, and only take in the occasional play and check out new restaurants only if they are especially revered or Nordic (I’m going to the Astor next week), or if they are local to us in Crouch End.
Sometimes, especially since the Brexit vote and its possible adverse consequences for my residency here, we talk about moving away from the UK. These plans, however, often come a cropper when we realise how much we would miss living in this bustling, multi-cultural, friendly (YES I said FRIENDLY!) city. I suspect, even if we do move away and can manage it, we will always have a foothold in London, even if it’s a cupboard at the very end of a tube line.
I was so shocked about the awful events this week in Westminster, where innocent people were killed, and brave men and women worked hard to keep our great city safe.
But my love affair with London will never end!
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March 10, 2017
Get Ready for the Indie Author Fringe!
Indie Author Fringe is an online conference for self-publishing authors, brought to you by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)Organised around the major book fairs around the world, ALLi brings together the most up-to-date self-publishing education and information available and broadcasts it to authors everywhere.
Running 24 sessions over 24 continuous hours allows ALLi members, and other authors around the globe, to attend some live sessions, no matter where they’re located. (But don’t worry, we don’t expect you to stay up all night! You can always catch up later.)
Over the course of the year, we take authors across all stages of the author-publishing journey: writing, editorial, design, production, distribution, sales, marketing, rights licensing, money matters and living the indie author life. And thanks to the generosity of our speakers and sponsors, it’s all free.
There is an exciting and varied line-up for the first Online Indie Author Fringe Event of 2017 that kicks off at 10am on Saturday March 18th (London Time)
These speakers include Orna Ross, Founder of ALLi, Joanna Penn, New York Times best-selling author and speaker on self-publishing, Mark Dawson, best-selling author and provider of hugely popular online courses on Facebook Advertising and self-publishing, and Jane Friedman, who has over 15 years experience in the publishing industry.
Be sure to join this incredible FREE Author Fringe event on Saturday 18th March. More details can be found on the event page here.
Are you interested in Author Mentoring?
Finally, I thought I’d let you know that I now offer several ways to help authors and creatives who wish to write and publish a book, be it a novel of a non-fiction title.
Including advice on what to write about, how to self-publish your book and how to find your perfect marketing approach through CreateThinkDo sessions, I can help you with each stage of the publishing process.
Find out about my mentoring programme here!
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March 3, 2017
New paperback covers and reading notes for book clubs
All the books in The Englishman series are now with new covers designed by the wonderful and talented Jessica Bell.If you follow this blog or my various social media posts, you will know that I changed the covers of the e-books for The Englishman series some months ago, but it took a while longer to get all the new jackets for the paperback books done. Don’t you think they are like a set of different coloured boxes of sweets? There really is nothing like holding a book (or in this case, books) that you’ve written in your own hands. Even though I say it myself, I do think the new covers look so very pretty together!
If you’d like to buy your own copies of the books in The Englishman series, or get more information on my books, go here. You will also find that all the books, as well as being available in paperback form, can now also be bought from most ebook retailers such as iBooks, Kobo Barnes & Noble, and, of course, Amazon.
To go with the new jackets, and due to popular demand
February 24, 2017
Free Reads for Smart Women
It starts today! An exciting limited time promotion called ‘Free Reads for Smart Women’ is finally here!
Twelve talented women authors are offering a free title each for a limited time, from 24th to 28th February 2017.
Do you like your fiction dramatic, thought-provoking, beautiful, award-winning, believable, imaginative, poignant, heart-racing, romantic, page-turning and courageous?
If so, we’ve got you covered!
All you need to do is to tap the image below to find out how to claim your free reads.
Don’t miss this limited offer! Click here to find out how to claim your free book.
Happy Reading!
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February 16, 2017
Support and Kindness from Other Authors
When I started my writing career, the one thing I didn’t expect was support and kindness from my fellow authors. In the beginning, I even thought every other writer was my competitor. But how wrong I was! Over the years, mainly through the Alliance of Independent Authors, but also through just talking to other writers, I’ve come to see how our mutual support just strengthens our writing careers.
At every turn, I’ve just been overwhelmed by this support, but today my cup is positively overflowing!
A few weeks ago during a London Indie Authors MeetUp I happened to mention to a fellow author that I’d read somewhere that the Japanese and the Finnish people share some cultural similarities: the Finns have the sauna, the Japanese enjoy soaking in a very hot tub, we both like silence, and we both love eating raw fish. The Japanese love Finnish design and are crazy about the Moomins. Or so I have been told by my Finnish friends (who may be a bit biased). Anyway, I said I’d love to introduce my books to the Japanese market, and this friend immediately said, ‘I’m going to Tokyo soon, I’ll take some of your stuff with me!’ Just like that. And today I saw that she’d taken my book to a shop in downtown Tokyo!
Clare @clarefic posted the photo on her Instagram feed. Tap the image and follow her!Thank you, Clare Lydon, for introducing The Finnish Girl to Japanese readers!
The last few years have taught me that helping each other in this huge and very competitive book market is the only way forward. However, co-operating with other authors has also brought me immense joy, and I can truthfully say most of my friends are now fellow authors.
Here I am at last years’ London Book Fair with another two writer friends, Carol Cooper and Karen InglisTalking about co-operating with other authors today is also quite timely for me because in a couple of weeks’ time I am taking part in a giveaway called FREE BOOKS FOR SMART WOMEN. The giveaway starts on Friday 24th February and runs until the 30th. Some great books are included in this giveaway, so keep your eyes peeled for more information coming soon!
If you’d like to have a free copy of The Finnish Girl , a ‘wonderfully intimate and honest’ story of a young Kaisa struggling to come to terms with her parents’ divorce and being a new girl in town, all you have to do is tell me where to send it! Tap the button below for more information.
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February 10, 2017
My Five Favourite Valentine’s Films
I think watching a film at home together is one of the most romantic things to do. With a glass or two of bubbly, some tasty nibbles (or even nibbling each other …), it makes for a wonderful Valentine’s evening in my book. I think it’s even better if your partner has chosen a classic film that he or she knows you absolutely love and could watch zillions of times (and already have) to enjoy together. Not only do you know they’re making a sacrifice in watching a film they may not love as much as you do, but you know they’ve taken the time and trouble to find something that you really love.
If I was on my own, I would definitely choose to watch one of these too, and treat myself to a really nice drink and some expensive chocolates!
Here are my five all-time favourite films that I would love to watch on Valentine’s.
1. The Way We Were
I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this film, but I still cry buckets at the end. Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford put in a wonderful performance as the ill-fated, mismatched lovers, and the plot and the scenes are pure class. I particularly love the bits during the war when Robert Redford is in the Navy. There are very few people who look as good in a uniform as he does!
2. Rocco and His Brothers
I saw this film when I was a young student in Finland and I fell in love with Visconti’s direction on the spot. I’ve always been a lover of Italian culture and this brutal and dramatic film about five brothers who move from Puglia to Milan to escape joblessness and poverty, is an Italian gem. If you’ve never seen this film, please get it on DVD and watch it now.
3. An Officer and a Gentleman
This choice is a bit cheesy, but I cannot exclude this film from any list of romantic films! It came out at a time when I was madly in love with my Navy Officer, and, well, if you’ve read any of the books in The Englishman series, you know there are some similarities in the story line.
Zack Mayo is a young man who has signed up for Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School. He is a Navy brat who has a bad attitude problem. Sgt Foley is there to train and evaluate him and will clearly find Zack wanting. Zack meets Paula, a girl who has little beyond family and must decide what it is he wants to do with his life.
4. Elvira Madigan
This Swedish film is a tragic tale of love and it’s beautifully shot. The music is divine too.
Hedvig Jensen (Pia Degermark) has been performing as a tightrope walker under the name Elvira Madigan for years. When she meets Lieutenant Sixten Sparre (Thommy Berggren) in the Danish countryside, the two fall in love and decide to run away together. Sixten, an army deserter, has trouble finding work, and the couple face hard times. Then Sixten meets an old friend who questions his choices and urges him to leave Hedvig before their life becomes even tougher.
5. Summer with Monika
To me this classic Ingmar Bergman film is post-war Sweden in a can. My mum told me that when the film came out in the 1950s it was considered scandalous, with all the sex scenes it included. Of course, now it looks pretty lame. Still, it’s a tragic tale of young love, and very well shot. The surrounding beautiful Swedish archipelago is a bonus!
Harry Lund, a nineteen-year-old falls for a seventeen-year-old Monika and together they decide to escape their dull lives and spend a summer on an island. Things soon turn sour when they run out of food and realise Monika is pregnant. The only way out of the situation is to get back to their boring jobs in the small town they left behind, but Monika just wants to have fun.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my film choices. Now over to you; which films would you love to watch on Valentine’s?
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February 4, 2017
My baby is coming home!
Photo credit: David Cheskin/PAThis joy of seeing my love again is nothing new; when I was a Navy Girlfriend and later a Navy Wife, this was my life. Goodbyes, much longer periods of being apart and wonderful reunions were the norm. But that was some 20 years ago, and these days I’m not so used to being alone anymore.
After our Big Move to London and after the children left home, during the Englishman’s annual boys’ skiing trip, I ‘ve usually been joined by my Big Sis here in London, or we’ve gone on our own trip somewhere. Alas, this year, she couldn’t make it, so I decided that I’d spend the week doing some serious writing. Little did I know that I’d do my back in during my own skiing break in Lapland just the week before, which meant that my time at my desk was limited to just a few hours per day.
This week has been useful, however. It’s allowed me to examine loneliness, something Kaisa, my Navy Wife in The Englishman series of books suffers from. It’s also made me realise how much I rely on our old terrier, aka Stinkie.
Now I write full-time and work from home, the terrier gives my day a structure. Stinkie forces me to take some time out in the morning, and again he makes me stop working when he comes into my office late afternoon to tell me it’s time to go out. These dog walks are excellent thinking time for me. I often find new plot twists, think of different character traits for the people in my books, and much else while the two of us make our way through our usual route in the woods. This morning I decided that I will give Kaisa a dog in the fifth book I’m working on at the moment, to keep her company. I may even give our Stinkie a cameo role. What do you think?
Apart from the dog walking, I tried to fill my week with activities away from my home office, and nights out with friends, but due to my back some of these I had to cancel. Oh, well, I’m better now, and cannot wait to see my Englishman. Talking of which, I must get going and straighten the flat out and make him something delicious to eat!
Just before I go, I thought I’d let you know that if you would like a free book, plus unpublished, exclusive bonus chapters from The Englishman series you can now get all three when you join my Readers’ Group. Happy Days!
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February 3, 2017
Valentine’s Day Kindle Giveaway
I wanted to let you know about the Valentine’s Day Kindle Giveaway that I’m sponsoring with The Englishman e-book.
Laskiaspulla – Finnish seasonal cream bunsI’ve always loved February. I think of this short month as a prelude to spring and the last hurrah to winter.
In Finland we celebrate February with cake: first there’s Runeberg Day when we commemorate our national poet with almond cakes filled with raspberry jam. In the middle of February, there’s Laskianen, a festival associated with Shrove Tuesday, when children and adults alike find a snowy hill and go sledging. Afterwards, they eat cream buns and drink hot chocolate. Or at least this is what we did when I was growing up in Tampere.
Of course, for the rest of the world, February is best known for being a romantic month with Valentine’s Day celebrated on the 14th. And this is the real reason for today’s blog.
The Kindle Book Review has put together the perfect love story… You, some amazing books, and a new Gen 8 Kindle eReader. It’s a perfect relationship!
The Valentine’s Day Kindle Giveaway is a chance for you to win one of six (1/6) Generation 8 Kindle e-readers. Just click on the image below or enter here. It’s easy & fun. If you love reading, enter now. The giveaway ends 15th February.
Good Luck and Happy Valentine’s!
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January 30, 2017
Feeling Very Foreign in Brexit Britain
I don’t often write about politics on my blog, which may be a bit odd since I studied Political Science at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki. I don’t do this because I think if I began, I’d never write about anything else ..!
But with Trump signing a ban on certain citizens from entering the United States, together with the Brexit vote here in the UK, I am so frightened that I have to say something about it all publicly.
So today I’m making an exception to my unofficial ‘no politics rule’ because my heart is brimming over.
The hatred against foreigners in the UK that has followed the lies, jingoism, and misinformation touted by the Brexiteers during last summer’s referendum campaign, is terrible.
As for what is happening in the US, I’m grateful that I have no family living in that country, but I’m terrified about the developments there. Trump and his policies are very dangerous for the world.
Brexit will also directly affect me and my family.
If you’ve read any of my novels, you will know that all of the books have one common theme: displacement. In The Englishman series Kaisa feels very much the foreigner in 1980s Britain, and as an outsider in the traditional and conservative Royal Navy community. My Nordic family drama, Coffee and Vodka , deals with the discrimination Eeva and her family face in Sweden. But being a foreigner in Britain today is worse than anything I described in those books.
So how is the Brexit vote affecting me personally?
I came to this country in the 1980s well before Finland was a member of the EU. In those days, because I had married a British citizen, I was given ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’ in the UK. This was just a little stamp in my passport but ensured that I could leave Britain and enter it again without a visa and didn’t need a work permit. But when I renewed my passport, the then policy at the Finnish Embassy was that all old passports had to be surrendered, so I lost the only written documentation of my residence permit. However, by that time Finland had joined the EU, so I saw no reason to worry about my residence permit or citizenship.
At that time I was also not able to apply for British citizenship because I would have immediately lost my Finnish one, and the children their dual Finnish/British citizenships. Britain is my home, but I was born in Finland and would be devastated if I had to become an alien there. The Finnish citizenship rules have now been reformed, but as I said before, I saw no reason to change my status as a European citizen.
I didn’t think I would ever have to worry about my own ability to stay and work in Britain. Until now.
As it stands now I have NO GUARANTEES that I can stay in Britain, in my home, where my children were born; where I’ve worked and paid taxes for the past 30+ years; where my British husband and I have lived for all of that time. I may be forced to leave the country where in a few months’ time my first grandchild will be born.
There have been many reports in the press about people in my situation who have already been asked to prepare to leave Britain by letter after they’ve failed the residence application with some small detail or other. As far as I understand from these reports (mainly in The Guardian) there are several hurdles you have to jump in order to be able to gain residency, such as having private medical insurance. To reapply you have to pay another fee and wait six months.
It’s obvious Britain is trying very hard to discourage new residents from settling here, as well as those European citizens who already live and work here from gaining permanent resident’s status.
I’ve been told taking legal advice to help me with a new residency application is the best course of action for me. It’s emotionally hard fact to swallow that I have to spend a huge amount of time and money in order to be able to travel and regain entry into a country I’ve called home for the past 30+ years, and for which I have already once been granted a permit to live in. And even with all the expensive legal advice, time and effort, I may not be successful in gaining residency. The rules have changed a lot since my initial move here in 1984.
Suddenly I feel very foreign in Britain when I have to prove my worth to British authorities, so that I can remain in what is my home.
Prime Minister May has been asked on many occasions what will happen to the 3 million or so European citizens who work here and call Britain home, but she has repeatedly avoided giving a full answer. And seeing what is happening in Britain today, I am too afraid not to start the process or applying for residence, and proving my right to stay in Britain. But it still feels very wrong.
Even if I was guaranteed leave to stay, my question is, why should I suddenly have to prove my worth to stay in my own home with my British husband, British children, and a future British grandchild?
And what happens if by some weird accident, sometime in the future, Finland and Britain fall out politically? Is Trump’s move in the US to ban ordinary people from entering the US a chilling sign of what’s to come in Britain? Could my (and my children’s) dual citizenship suddenly become a problem?
This may sound mad now, but remember only a few months ago everyone thought Britain would never vote to leave the EU, and equally Trump would never become President of the most powerful country in the world.
Over to you.
Are you in a similar situation? Are you too at loss and frighted about what is happening both here in Britain and in the US?
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January 27, 2017
The Englishman Box Set Limited Offer
The first three books in my Navy romance series are now in a boxed set. What’s more, the books are on a limited Kindle Countdown Offer for the next three days!
I hope 2017 has got off to a good start for you! Here in the UK we’ve had a bit of a cold spell, something which I managed to escape to an even colder climate. I visited Helsinki to read from my latest novel, THE GOOD OFFICER, and to talk about writing at the FinnBrit Language Centre. If you were there, thank you very much for coming! It was wonderful to speak to a packed out room, full of people who afterwards asked such intelligent and interesting questions. If FinnBrits allow me, I will be back with my next novel!
If you didn’t get to my talk, there will be a video clip of the evening online soon. If you are in Helsinki, there are also a few paperback copies of THE GOOD OFFICER on sale at the language centre on 20 Fredrkinkatu, Helsinki. (Link to a map here.)
While in Finland, I also took the opportunity to visit a good friend up in Lapland for a bit of skiing. Perversely, I came home from the holiday, which was fantastically relaxing, with torn ligaments in my back … Now I am trying to nurse my body back to health with the help of some ointments and a lot of painkillers.
But enough of that. Today I wanted to let you know about an offer on THE ENGLISHMAN BOXED SET. The first three books in the series are on a Kindle Countdown Offer, which means that for three days, the books will be discounted as follows:
FRIDAY 27TH JANUARY 8AM $/£0.99 FOR 24 HOURS
SATURDAY 28TH JANUARY 8AM $/£1.99 FOR 24 HOURS
SUNDAY 29TH JANUARY 8AM $/£3.99 FOR 24 HOURS
THE PRICE WILL BE BACK TO NORMAL £/$4.99 ON 30TH JANUARY 8AM (PST/GMT)
Take advantage of this LIMITED TIME OFFER and download your copy now!
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