Helena Halme's Blog, page 19

An anniversary!

Today is exactly 4 years since my first novel, The Englishman, was published. I remember that day pretty well – I’d pressed the ‘publish now’ button the night before and in the morning as I woke, I saw from Amazon that the book was available to buy. What a feeling that was! To celebrate, the Englishman and I went for breakfast in a local cafe in Crouch End. Here is a picture of me on that day – complete with dark circles around my eyes from several late nights battling with the formatting of the novel.

Now, four years and another 4 books later, as I think back to the first heady days after publication, when the book sales exceeded all my expectations, I wish I’d had more belief in myself and made the decision to become full-time author/entrepreneur sooner. But, looking back with regret is a mug’s game, so instead, I am proud of myself for having achieved what I have to date. I am now an Indie Author through and through, and as well as having a novel, The Good Officer, about to come out (you can preorder it here 

Best restaurant in Uzes, South of France

Food for me is an important ingredient in a good holiday, so the Englishman and I were delighted to find an excellent restaurant in Uzes called Le Comptoir du 7. It was recommended by an American lady, Barefoot Blogger , living in this beautiful city, and was one of the highlights of our holiday this year. Although we were on a social media detox, finding places to eat on the net was allowed.

Uzes, which has a rich history dating back to ancient times (before written records) is a small, very pretty, market town Northwest of Avignon. During our two week break we visited Uzes quite a few times because we were immediately charmed by its narrow streets and old towers. On our very first visit we found a cafe right by the market, Place aux Herbes, (I forget what it was called!), where we had many a mid-morning coffee. There are also countless excellent boulangeries, and the twice weekly markets (Wednesdays and Saturdays) are the best and largest in the area. (And we tried them all in the district of Gare!)

Below images from Uzes and the food market.

 

We visited Le Comptoir du 7 on our last but one day, the 14th July, when the residents and visiting tourists were preparing for the Bastille Day celebrations. Sadly, it was later that very same evening that the awful events in Nice unfolded, but at lunchtime we were still blissfully unaware of that.

Here are some pictures of our food: I had heritage tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella and basil cream to start, while the Englishman had red pepper ravioli (just visible). My main course was white fish with fennel, while he had slow-cooked shin of pork. The Englishman and I shared a pudding of rhubarb three ways (not the share, the pudding!). Naturally all was washed down with some local rose and a rather good white and red. We have no idea what the wines were, apart from the fact that they were local. That’s the wonderful thing about dining out in Provence –the house wines by the glass or pichet are always excellent.

I’m missing Uzes already!

The post Best restaurant in Uzes, South of France appeared first on Helena Halme Author.

The Future of Books at the Fitzrovia Festival

A few weeks ago I took part in a panel discussion on the future of books at the Fitzrovia Festival in London. The event was hosted by Author in Residence at Virtual Futures, Stephen Oram, and included talks from writers of various disciplines. It was a very interesting evening and my thanks go to Stephen for inviting me along.

Here is a video from the event, featuring (left to right): Allen Ashley, Hannah Kowszun, me and Stephen. I hope you enjoy!

There was a lively talk on the future of ebooks after the event, so if you have any questions, fire away!

The post The Future of Books at the Fitzrovia Festival appeared first on Helena Halme.

Why I reinvented myself for The Navy Wife

One of the most common questions I get from the readers of The Navy Wife, my sequel to The Englishman, is how much of the story is true. Of course this is a perfectly sensible and appropriate question, being that The Englishman is the story of how I came to be in England. Although fictionalised, this first book in the series is based on my life and how I met the Englishman.

My usual reply to the query is, ‘Unlike The Englishman, The Navy Wife is completely fictional’.

To this comment I get two kinds of reactions.

Firstly, there’s the, ‘Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more,’ comment, ‘Sure!’

My Summer Reads

As you know if you read my (bit of a cheat) mid-holiday post from Provence, I have been on a self-imposed internet detox for the past two weeks. Contrary to my fears, the world hasn’t forgotten about me (hurrah), and my books sales didn’t completely collapse during the break either. So, what did I do instead of posting a constant stream of images on Instagram? You guessed it, I read a lot of books! And this time, to go with with the non-digital holiday theme, I bought good old-fashioned paperbacks to take with me. It helped that we took the train down to South of France, so the weight of my luggage was not an issue.

For my holiday reads, I wanted something to help me escape to warmer climes (London was decidedly chilly and rainy two weeks ago). I also decided the stories should have nothing whatsoever to do with politics. I needed to forget all about the Brexit vote, the economic meltdown and political turmoil. Sadly, we couldn’t quite escape world events when towards the end of the holiday we heard the awful news from Nice, just a few miles further South from where we were. My heart goes out to all those who were involved in the horrors.

But let’s get back to the summer reads.

First up is a novel about the arty Manhattan smart set holidaying in Europe. 

The Vacationers by Emma Straub is  story of a dysfunctional New York family who, mainly due to the strong-arm tactics of the mother, high-achieving author Franny, are taking a last holiday together in Majorca before the youngest daughter, Sylvia, goes off to college. But it slowly transpires that Franny may have other motives for insisting on the two-week summer break in the Balearics.

As the sunny days turn into humid nights, secrets, which each member of the extended family would rather keep to themselves, begin to unravel …

I couldn’t put this book down and very nearly finished it before my holiday. Straub is a master at describing friendships and tricky interconnecting family relationships from all points of view, making none of the characters the villain of the piece, whatever their transgression. Making mistakes in life is part of being human. The Vacationers is an uplifting book on all levels.

Next is  a novel based on real events – just my kind of book.

I’ve always been fascinated by Hemingway, and even more so by his wives. Or, rather, the fact that he had four wives. The story of his love life has been fairly well covered in other books and films, so I wasn’t sure this latest book on the subject, Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood, would bring anything new to the table. How wrong I was! The novel, inspired by letters Ernest Hemingway wrote to his wives (and lovers before they became his wives), is an intelligent and clever tale of the famous author’s many relationships. The fact that we meet each wife at the beginning, and at the end, of the relationship, when marriage and affair overlap, brings a new and tragic angle to the stories of these four remarkable women.

If you are a Hemingway fanatic like me, this is the book for you.

Now for something quite naughty …

If The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh doesn’t get your juices going while holiday, nothing will. This is a steamy story of an illicit affair between an older woman and a younger man, again set in Majorca. (What’s with Majorca all of a sudden?)

I do love a good hot-under-the-collar tale on holiday, and this is certainly one of those. Whether I’d enjoy this kind of story with quite graphic sex scenes, combined with a weak plot, at any other time, is debatable.

I’m not a prude, but in my view the best sex scene ever written is the encounter in the library between the young lovers Cecilia and Robbie in Ian McEwen’s Atonement, where very few body parts are mentioned.

Enjoy The Lemon Grove but don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Provence and social media detox

We’ve been here a week and I haven’t once looked at my Facebook page, Twitter feed or posted a single picture on my Instagram feed. I have also not written anything more than short shopping lists (by hand with actual pen on actual paper) for our nearly daily visits to various markets in this area of South of France.

This may sound like nothing to you, but to me it is revolutionary. Normally when at home in London (or indeed anywhere), the first thing I do, when I wake, is to grab my phone and check my book sales, do a few posts on Twitter and Facebook, check my website stats and look through my emails. This is before I even get out of bed. The rest of the day is the same, I am never too far away from my social media feed, unless I am writing, and forcing myself to be out of the loop for  few hours.

Having an Internet Detox during our two week break to Provence this year was the Englishman’s idea. It was something which at first I considered with pure horror; what if my book sales tanked when I wasn’t constantly reminding the world of my existence? What if everybody has forgotten about me (and my work) by the time I re-enter the world of 140 characters or less? What if my email list has disappeared and every reader with it?

‘But who works from noon till night like you do?’ asked the Englishman. ‘You have to have a break some time.’

My excuse was that since I’m building my business – the business of making a living as an author entrepreneur – I have to give it my all. If anyone, he should know, that when you have your own business, you work all the hours.

But a real break from writing, and particularly from social media was exactly what I needed. (As much as it pains me to say it, the Englishman was right). After just one week (and I have another seven days to go), I feel refreshed and my brain feels sharper. I won’t pretend it hasn’t been hard – during the first few days I kept going to my phone and on several occasions was just seconds away from pressing the Twitter icon, or posting a picture on Instagram. But I forced myself to focus on the physical world around me, instead of worrying about the virtual one.

And it seems to have paid off, because I feel so incredibly rested; more relaxed than I have felt in years.

Although, I’m yet to find out if my little online world has collapsed, while I’ve been wandering around pretty French villages, taking long lunches or spending lazy afternoons in the sun.

I sincerely hope you’ll still be there when I get back.

A bientôt!

PS. I know I’m cheating a little by writing this post, but last night I began to feel as if I was losing my mind, so I came to an agreement with myself and the Englishman. We both decided one blog post won’t break the detox …

The post Provence and social media detox appeared first on Helena Halme.

New novel title reveal!

So the Brexit vote is over and done with, and whatever side you were on, I think you’ll agree that the result was a shock for most of us who live and work in Britain. If you follow me on social media you’ll know by now that I’m a firm believer in the European Union, and that I am more than frustrated by the result.

But, hey, life goes on!

I feel lucky that my job involves delving into the fantasy world of fiction, and once immersed in that world, I can completely forget about what’s happening around me. Writing is my saviour, and so it shall remain, whatever the future holds.

BUT, this post is about title reveal, so I shan’t keep you in suspense any longer!

Drumroll please!

The fourth book in The Englishman series is going to be called:

The Good Officer

I hope you like the name! I spent quite a long time umming and ahhing over it, but now looking at the title written out, I am really, really glad I chose this one. The title really fits the story of this fourth book in the series, which, by the way, I loved writing.  

Spoiler Alert!

Although The Good Officer is a standalone read, if you haven’t yet read The Finnish Girl, The Englishman or The Navy Wife, you may not wish to read on.

You can find the three previous books on Amazon and other online retailers, but the first book, The Finnish Girl is now FREE – tap on the button below to find out more.

If, however, you have read all three previous books in the series, scroll down …

In 1984 Kaisa moves from Finland to Britain to be with the love of her life, the handsome Englishman, Navy Officer Peter. But when Kaisa’s affair with Peter’s fellow naval officer leads to a fight between the two men, and a Court Martial, the newly married couple drift apart. Wracked with guilt, Kaisa flees to her native Finland, where she’s welcomed with open arms by her family and friends.

When offered a job, Kaisa returns to Britain, where a chance meeting in London sees the two ex-lovers steal a passionate kiss. But Peter has a new girlfriend, and Kaisa’s career is finally taking off.

Will they overcome the past, and the challenges of the future, and give their marriage another chance?

Can they love each other again?

A standalone read, The Good Officer is the third novel in The Englishman series, which follows the tumultuous 1980s love affair between the Finnish-born Kaisa and a British Navy Officer, Peter.

In praise of The Englishman series:

“THE FINNISH GIRL is wonderfully intimate and honest, the characters feel real and you can almost smell the sea air of Helsinki.” – Pauliina Ståhlberg, Director of The Finnish Institute in London.

“THE ENGLISHMAN is subtitled ‘Can love go the distance?’ and it is quite the page-turner. I had difficulty stopping myself from devouring it in one go.” – Tania Hershman, author, poet, curator of ShortStops and writer in residence at Bristol University.

“No plot spoilers here, but I will say that in THE NAVY WIFE, Helena Halme keeps us on tenterhooks right to the last minute, as Kaisa encounters numerous obstacles, including controversial friendships and temptations. – Debbie Young, Commissioning Editor at The Alliance of Independent Authors.

The Good Officer is now available to preorder exclusively from iBooks – just tap on the logo below to preorder the fifth book in The Englishman series now!

The post New novel title reveal! appeared first on Helena Halme.

Kindle Countdown Deal

Want to forget all about the Brexit vote? (I certainly do)

Immerse yourself in The Red King of Helsinki, a Cold War spy tale set in Finland in the chill of midwinter.

And now there’s good news! I bet you didn’t think I’d say that this morning …

The Red King of Helsinki is now £0.99 (down from £2.99 = a saving of £2)

Hurry, this price will only last for 36 hours!

Tomorrow night at 8pm the price will rise to £1.99

Monday 27th 8am the price will go back to £2.99

 

In the US the price is $0.99 from 8am (PST) today

Tomorrow it will go up to $1.99

On Monday 27th June the price will be back at $3.99

The Red King of Helsinki 5***** Reviews

“Helena Halme is perfectly equipped to weave a narrative that combines Russian, Finnish and English strands, and the result is confident and well paced.”

“Fast-moving, heart-stopping, thrilling writing. I was gripped. I couldn’t sleep until I’d turned the last page. Beautifully written, (hard to believe it’s not in the author’s native tongue), wonderful plot, fabulous climax. Wonderful. I want more!”

“The Finnish winter provides an atmospheric background to this exciting suspense novel. Intrigue, young love, older love, disappointment, and gymnastics. All in one great story.”

The year is 1979 and the Cold War is all but over in Helsinki, the playground of the Russian KGB, when a former British Navy officer Iain is asked to work undercover. He’s to investigate Vladislav Kovtun, a violent KGB spy, dubbed The Red King of Helsinki by the Finnish secret service. This is Iain’s first assignment, and when he discovers the bodies left in Kovtun’s wake, he quickly gets embroiled in danger.

Young student Pia has two goals in life: she dreams of a career in gymnastics and she wants Heikki, a boy in her class with the dreamiest blue eyes, to notice her. But she’s not a very good gymnast. At least not as good as her best friend, Anni, the daughter of an eminent Finnish Diplomat. But when her gym teacher announces there’s to be a competition with a Russian school, Pia is desperate to take part. Then her friend Anni goes missing, and against all odds, Pia is selected to take her friend’s place. Pia cannot let go of her dream, so she accepts the challenge but at the same time this young student turns feisty sleuth, and begins to investigate what’s happened to her friend.

Unbeknown to Pia, Kovtun, The Red King of Helsinki, is watching her every move.

The object of Pia’s daydreams, Heikki is also watching her, and when, out of the blue, he makes a pass at her, Pia is dizzy with happiness. But after they share passionate kisses, Heikki begins to ask questions about her mother’s English boyfriend Iain, about Anni and about the gymnastics competition. Most puzzling of all, Heikki tells Pia not to take part. ‘It’s dangerous,’ he says.

In Helsinki, a city balancing on a knife edge between the mighty Russia in the East and the free West, a fist fight between the British MI5, the KGB and The Finnish secret service is out of the question. Finns are desperate to keep their hard-won neutrality and Iain is told by British his spy masters not to get involved, but how can he watch from the sidelines when he sees Pia is in danger?

Nordic Noir meets Scandinavian spy fiction in this fast-moving Cold War tale set in Finland in the 1970s.

The post Kindle Countdown Deal appeared first on Helena Halme.

Advice for New Writers Part 8: How to Build an Author Platform

In my previous post I discussed why an author needs to establish a way to communicate with his or her readers, or build an author platform. In this, the 8th post in the series, Advice to New Writers, I talk a little about how to go about building such a platform.

What Does Your Author Profile Look Like?

First you need to decide what your author profile is. What kind of writer are you? Are you genre driven, i.e. are your books detective stories, fantasy, young adult, romances? If you already know exactly what your genre is, fantastic.  I have to admit that I struggled quite a lot to find where amongst the millions of titles published worldwide my writing fitted. But eventually I found out that I write contemporary romances set in Finland. I often call myself an author of Nordic romances, even though it’s not even a proper a genre (if you look it up on Amazon, you get a lot of books featuring semi-naked Nordic Gods or Vikings – something my books definitely are not). Sometimes I use the Women’s Fiction umbrella. Still, even I found my niche, so trust me, every book and author will fit into a genre. Here is a link to the BISAC fiction categories used by Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

The best way to find where your book fits the marketplace is to look at books, or authors, that are similar to you. Sometimes it even pays to think what novelists you enjoy reading, and compare your style to theirs.

What’s special about you?

Next, think what separates you from other authors in your chosen category. Are you a different nationality like me: a Finnish author writing in English? Or perhaps you write stories set in one locality. Do you have a different style, unusual characters in your book(s)? Something as small as having a white cat, which you can incorporate into your profile, can be enough to make you stand out. Think of authors who have very successfully made their author profiles stand out: Jilly Cooper (raunchy, posh romances), Jo Nesbo (Nordic Noir), William Boyd (literary fiction). It’s worthwhile spending some time thinking about your author profile before you build your platform.

Set up a website

Once you have decided what kind of author you are, you need to set up a website, even if it is a static one, i.e. you don’t update it very often. A website is like your calling card on the net, and it is where you can start building that fan base. The website alone will inform readers what kind of author you are, and what kind of books you write. Most importantly you can begin to set up an email list of your readers through your website. The sooner you do this, even if your first book is still in the making, the more successful your writing career will be.

Joanna Penn has a free guide on her The Creative Penn site on how to set up an author website very quickly and easily. But before you do that, I’d advise you to look at websites by authors in your genre. Without copying them, you can see what the style needs to be. A romance author needs a completely different look from a fantasy thriller author and so on. Based on your website, you can then go on and build your other online and off-line projects and platforms, making sure all of your online output has the same look.

Build a mailing list

One of the first tasks after you’ve set up the website is to start building a mailing list. Think of the emails that you collect as a direct line to your readers – your super fan base. This is the list that will ensure that your next book will do well – anyone who has agreed to sign up for your newsletter will be willing to buy your next book. A large mailing list equals many readers, equals many fans, equals book sales. Simple. Nick Stephenson runs an excellent course on how to market your books and build your mailing list. Go and have a look at his Your First 10,000 Readers website.

Other online platforms

It’s useful to have a presence on other online platforms in addition to your website; sites like Facebook and Twitter can be used to drive traffic to your website. If you can’t decide where you should invest your time, one way of determining this is to look at other authors in your genre, and see where they hang out. Are these authors active on Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram? If you get emails from your readers, try to find out which platforms they use.

I’ve found out that many of my fans are on Facebook, but I’m a bit of a social media junkie and spend a lot of time on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads. I also try to post a few times per week on Linkedin and Google+. There are ways of automating the content, so you don’t have to spend all of your time online. This is something I’ve yet to get to grips with. There’s always something to learn in this very fast moving industry!

Real life events

A good way to build your author platform is to attend events. If you are new to the writing game, attending as a guest and asking questions is a good way to get noticed. Before I published my books, I went to a lot of festivals, attended writer events, MeetUps, joined in Alliance of Independent Authors meetings and generally got myself about. (And I still do). But make sure that you have a business card, or leaflets or something to give to people when you network so that they can find you online. When  you’ve attended a few events, someone will ask you to speak, or read from your book. And if you keep being active, and you prepare well and are good at what you do, this will slowly but surely snowball.

As a summary, I’d say having at least a website and an author Facebook page, reflecting your author profile, are the minimum requirements if you wish to build an effective author platform.

In the next post in this series, Advice to New Writers, I’ll talk about whether authors should blog or not.

 

The post Advice for New Writers Part 8: How to Build an Author Platform appeared first on Helena Halme.

Advice to New Writers Part 8: How to Build an Author Platform

In my previous post I discussed why an author needs to establish a way to communicate with his or her readers, or build an author platform. In this, the 8th post in the series, Advice to New Writers, I talk a little about how to go about building such a platform.

What Does Your Author Profile Look Like?

First you need to decide what your author profile is. What kind of writer are you? Are you genre driven, i.e. are your books detective stories, fantasy, young adult, romances? If you already know exactly what your genre is, fantastic.  I have to admit that I struggled quite a lot to find where amongst the millions of titles published worldwide my writing fitted. But eventually I found out that I write contemporary romances set in Finland. I often call myself an author of Nordic romances, even though it’s not even a proper a genre (if you look it up on Amazon, you get a lot of books featuring semi-naked Nordic Gods or Vikings – something my books definitely are not). Sometimes I use the Women’s Fiction umbrella. Still, even I found my niche, so trust me, every book and author will fit into a genre. Here is a link to the BISAC fiction categories used by Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

The best way to find where your book fits the marketplace is to look at books, or authors, that are similar to you. Sometimes it even pays to think what novelists you enjoy reading, and compare your style to theirs.

What’s special about you?

Next, think what separates you from other authors in your chosen category. Are you a different nationality like me: a Finnish author writing in English? Or perhaps you write stories set in one locality. Do you have a different style, unusual characters in your book(s)? Something as small as having a white cat, which you can incorporate into your profile, can be enough to make you stand out. Think of authors who have very successfully made their author profiles stand out: Jilly Cooper (raunchy, posh romances), Jo Nesbo (Nordic Noir), William Boyd (literary fiction). It’s worthwhile spending some time thinking about your author profile before you build your platform.

Set up a website

Once you have decided what kind of author you are, you need to set up a website, even if it is a static one, i.e. you don’t update it very often. A website is like your calling card on the net, and it is where you can start building that fan base. The website alone will inform readers what kind of author you are, and what kind of books you write. Most importantly you can begin to set up an email list of your readers through your website. The sooner you do this, even if your first book is still in the making, the more successful your writing career will be.

Joanna Penn has a free guide on her The Creative Penn site on how to set up an author website very quickly and easily. But before you do that, I’d advise you to look at websites by authors in your genre. Without copying them, you can see what the style needs to be. A romance author needs a completely different look from a fantasy thriller author and so on. Based on your website, you can then go on and build your other online and off-line projects and platforms, making sure all of your online output has the same look.

Build a mailing list

One of the first tasks after you’ve set up the website is to start building a mailing list. Think of the emails that you collect as a direct line to your readers – your super fan base. This is the list that will ensure that your next book will do well – anyone who has agreed to sign up for your newsletter will be willing to buy your next book. A large mailing list equals many readers, equals many fans, equals book sales. Simple. Nick Stephenson runs an excellent course on how to market your books and build your mailing list. Go and have a look at his Your First 10,000 Readers website.

Other online platforms

It’s useful to have a presence on other online platforms in addition to your website; sites like Facebook and Twitter can be used to drive traffic to your website. If you can’t decide where you should invest your time, one way of determining this is to look at other authors in your genre, and see where they hang out. Are these authors active on Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram? If you get emails from your readers, try to find out which platforms they use.

I’ve found out that many of my fans are on Facebook, but I’m a bit of a social media junkie and spend a lot of time on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads. I also try to post a few times per week on Linkedin and Google+. There are ways of automating the content, so you don’t have to spend all of your time online. This is something I’ve yet to get to grips with. There’s always something to learn in this very fast moving industry!

Real life events

A good way to build your author platform is to attend events. If you are new to the writing game, attending as a guest and asking questions is a good way to get noticed. Before I published my books, I went to a lot of festivals, attended writer events, MeetUps, joined in Alliance of Independent Authors meetings and generally got myself about. (And I still do). But make sure that you have a business card, or leaflets or something to give to people when you network so that they can find you online. When  you’ve attended a few events, someone will ask you to speak, or read from your book. And if you keep being active, and you prepare well and are good at what you do, this will slowly but surely snowball.

As a summary, I’d say having at least a website and an author Facebook page, reflecting your author profile, are the minimum requirements if you wish to build an effective author platform.

In the next post in this series, Advice to New Writers, I’ll talk about whether authors should blog or not.

 

The post Advice to New Writers Part 8: How to Build an Author Platform appeared first on Helena Halme.