Helena Halme's Blog, page 2

New Book Trials and Tribulations

As the last instalment in the Love on the Island Series, my new book, An Island Heatwave, was always going to be a little harder to write, but I think there have been other factors at work too.

End of Lockdowns

It’s crazy how quickly you get used to a new way of doing things. During the past two years, and various lockdowns because of the Covid pandemic, I increased my writing speed and productivity in general. At first, it was difficult. The world, it seemed, was becoming unhinged. Everything was closing down, and people were dying by their thousands, hundreds of thousands and eventually, millions. 

As a writer with a vivid imagination, the situation was unimaginable. Many of us authors closed down. Luckily, my paralysis was very brief. My inability to write in the early stages of the first lockdown in 2020 was mainly due to the physical restrictions of suddenly having to work in a small space together with the Englishman. Once I started using noise-cancelling headphones, however, my creativity returned, and I was back to writing every day.

Many people went crazy, staying at home all the time, but we had our submarine patrol routine, and I was so happy because I was left alone to write as much as I wanted. 

Don’t get me wrong, I did miss seeing other people, family in particular. I also missed travel and towards the end of the last lockdown (I hope and pray it was the last one!), I would have travelled to the South Pole just to get out of the UK.

In-Person Events Take Time

After two years of lockdowns, I’ve thrown myself into travel and ‘in-person’ events. (There wasn’t even such an expression before COVID!)

This year, in addition to seeing family and friends, I’ve already been to Africa, on a disastrous holiday to Sal (read all about it here). The Englishman and I attended a convention in San Diego and took a couple of days off to enjoy California afterwards.

There have been award dinners, as well as The London Book Fair, where (I’m now almost certain) I contracted Omicron. The two-plus weeks I and the poor Englishman suffered from COVID, knocked us sideways.  

My lovely sister came to visit us once we’d recovered, a visit that has been in the planning for nearly three years.

What I had forgotten is how long all these ‘in-person’ events take. There’s all the preparation, the travel time and the recovery. A case in point is LBF. The fair took nearly a month to recover from. That was a bit unusual, of course.

Obviously, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Meeting new and old friends, and travelling, feed the soul. For a writer, they are a necessity. Where else would all the plot ideas and characters stem from, if not one’s experiences? There is only so much you can mine from your dreams alone.

New Book

Changes always affect my productivity, and getting back to some kind of normal life hasn’t been an exception. 

There have also been other factors at play with the trials and tribulations of writing  An Island Heatwave, Book 6 in the Love on the Island series.

One thing is certain, it hasn’t been easy. 

The Englishman points out that this is what I say every time I write a novel, but I do think this book has been more difficult than usual. (He says he’s heard this comment before too.)

Perhaps the reason for my difficult writing process is the hectic spring that I’ve had. I’m sure that’s part of the problem.

It could also be that, as this will be the last book in the series, (although I never say never), I may be going through some kind of withdrawal syndrome?

I found a similar issue when writing The True Heart. It was supposed to be the last book in The Nordic Heart series. There was a dramatic end, which I found very, very hard to write. I did go on and write another book in the series, The Christmas Heart, just to get a happy ending for everyone!

I’m not planning a similar drama in An Island Heatwave, although there will of course be plot twists and tension. So that cannot be the reason.

I do know I’m going to miss my characters and am already thinking about a new series based on one of them. It may not happen, but I’m using this plan as a kind of crutch to lean on when my thoughts go to having to leave the islands and the characters that I’ve grown to love.

Publication Schedule

Having felt very panicky about the new novel, I decided at the beginning of this week to take a good hard look at my schedule. Previously I’d promised my Readers Group mailing list that An island Heatwave might be out as soon as this June. (The optimism!)

This should be a lesson to me. I am very sorry that I mislead all of my lovely readers, but I do hope you understand. I also hope that you prefer a well-crafted novel to a quicker publishing schedule.

An Island Heatwave will now be out on 31 August and not before. This is the publication date on the Amazon preorder page, so at least I don’t have to go cap in hand to the mighty Zon and ask them to change the date!

Preorder Offer

You can now preorder An Island Heatwave, which will be out on 31st August, for just $2.99 (£2.99/2.99€). This offer will end on publication day when the price will revert to $4.99. What’s more, if you preorder now, the novel will be dropped right into your Kindle or another reading device on the day of publication. This way, you don’t have to keep an eye out for when the next instalment in the Love on the Island series is out. Isn’t that neat?

Preorder An Island Heatwave now

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Books About Finland

Are you interested in books about Finland? You’re in the right place. As well as writing books about Finland, I try to read every translated book that comes out of there. Firstly, because I’m Finnish and secondly because it’s such an interesting country, situated as it is between East and West. 

Finland has been in the news a lot lately. The war in Ukraine has such frightening parallels to the history between Finland and Russia. Soviet Russia attacked Finland during WW2, but we managed to hold the invaders back, only conceding some territory to the Soviet Union. Sound familiar?

But enough about geopolitics. Let’s face it, the news at the moment is nothing but depressing and scary.

Let’s instead dive into books about Finland.

New Books About Finland

I am always disappointed and frankly amazed why so few Finnish books are translated into English. I know that The Finnish Literature Exchange (FILI) works tirelessly to educate and support translators, as well as awarding generous grants to publishers to finance translations. Sadly, the fact remains that most books written in Finnish find their way first to the other Nordic markets, then to Germany, and only after that to the English-speaking markets.

There are a few publishers that are doing a great job translating fiction from Finland into English. One of them is Orenda Books. Based in London this independent publishing company specialises in “beautiful, readable, and unforgettable” books. Not all of them are Nordic Noir, but if that is your genre, you can’t go wrong with browsing their selection.

The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen

A Finnish author that Orenda Books publishes is Antti Tuomainen. I’m a huge fan of his quirky, ‘Fargoesk’ books. I’ve featured Antti on this blog several times before.

Tuomainen’s new novel, The Moose Paradox, is out on 22 October this year. Translated by David Hackston, this is another fast-moving story of insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen, his newly acquired amusement park and his complicated love affair with artist Laura. I laughed out loud when reading this novel in Finnish. Having read many of Tuomainen’s books also in English, I know the comedy will not be lost in translation.

The Moose Paradox is a sequel to his best-selling book, The Rabbit Factor, which I included in my blog last autumn. The film rights for the first book in the series have already been acquired by Amazon Studios, with an announcement that Steve Carroll will be in the lead.

Insurance mathematician Henri has his life under control, when a man from the past appears and a shady trio take over the adventure park’s equipment supply company … Things are messier than ever in the absurdly funny, heart-stoppingly tense second instalment in Antti Tuomainen’s bestselling series.

Nordic Lifestyle by Susanna Heiskanen

Another new book soon out on preorder is Nordic Lifestyle by a Finnish blogger and podcaster, Susanna Heiskanen, aka The Nordic Mum. You can sign up for her book club to find out about her journey to writing the book, get the preorder page link as soon as it’s up, and other fun information about the forthcoming title. Just tap here to find out more.

My Books About Finland

I’ve been writing books about Finland (and occasionally Sweden) for over ten years. Although I’ve lived in the UK for longer than I ever did in Finland, my country of birth still haunts me and forces me to set most of my stories there.

Even after 14 fiction titles, I cannot imagine writing about anything else but Finland!

The Red King of Helsinki

If you are interested in political intrigue in Finland, you might like to read the spy story set in Helsinki during particularly harsh winter days in February 1979. Only yesterday I had an email from a reader on my mailing list saying, “The Red King of Helsinki is one of your best books”.

The Red King of Helsinki is a Cold War story of espionage, murder, and betrayal.

He’s a rookie spy chasing a violent Russian KGB man. She’s a young student looking for a friend who has mysteriously disappeared. Can he save her?

The English Heart

Perhaps you’d like to read a “compelling” Cold War love story between a British Navy Officer and a student from Finland instead? In 1980, Kaisa and Peter meet under the sparkling lights of the British Embassy in Helsinki, but their future seems bleak when Peter’s commanding officers warn him of Cold War “honey traps”, while Kaisa is engaged to be married to a dependable, older man.

The English Heart is a novel which was inspired by my own life. Yes, reader, I married the British Navy Officer myself!

A newly qualified navy officer looking for adventure. A student with her life planned out. When they meet sparks fly, but how can they plan a future together when their countries are on the opposing sides of the Cold War?

Coffee and Vodka

Last but by now means least, I think you might enjoy Coffee and Vodka, a Nordic family drama set in Finland and Sweden. This story was the product of an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. The novel took me nearly two years to write, edit and polish. I recall very clearly when my tutor told me that at some point I am going to have to stop editing and start querying agents with the manuscript. By that stage, I’d already graduated.

“Coffee and Vodka is a rich story that stays with us….with moments of brilliance.” – Dr. Mimi Thebo, Bath Spa University.

Eeva doesn’t want to remember, but a return to Finland where she grew up forces her finally to confront her past.

Join My Readers Group

If you’ve enjoyed this post about books from Finland, why not join my Readers Group? You’ll get a weekly email about Finland, my writing life, book offers, news about forthcoming titles, freebies, bookish competitions, and much much more. I’ll never spam you and you can unsubscribe at any point.

What’s more, when you sign up for my Readers Group, you get a choice of two books. There’s either a free copy of my Nordic love story, The Day We Met …

Get THE DAY WE MET here

Or, if you join here, you get a copy of the bittersweet story of young love, The Young Heart. This book is a prequel to The English Heart and tells the story of Kaisa, who at just fourteen, is seduced by the 22-year-old Matti. Dubbed “Finnish Lolita”, this is “an intimate and honest” (Pauliina Ståhlberg) look at young love.

Get THE YOUNG HEART here

The post Books About Finland appeared first on Helena Halme Author.

Eve of Publication Day Interview with Jane Davis

Today I’m delighted to interview Jane Davis, an award-winning author of several literary fiction novels. As well as a friend, Jane is an excellent writer, whose books I eagerly wait to read as soon as they are out. I’m lucky to have received an advance copy of her latest novel, Small Eden, which is out tomorrow. A review of the novel will follow shortly here and on my Instagram feed.

Q: Where do you live and how does that influence your writing?

I grew up close to Wimbledon, best known for its association with lawn tennis. These days, SW19 is in one of London’s most expensive postcodes, but back in those pre-DIY days, it wasn’t nearly so affluent. I can no longer afford to live there, but I haven’t moved far. 

It used to amuse me as a child when my father pointed to a built-up area and say, ‘I remember when this all used to be fields’, but I’ve noticed that I’m saying much the same thing. The changes I’ve seen, both demographically and architecturally interest and unsettle me in equal measure. I wrote in Half-Truths and White Lies how the discovery that my middle school had been knocked down made me feel as if my memories had been trampled on. My interest is change, how it feels personal, and sometimes you won’t even be aware what’s been taken from you until you return to a place you once loved, or were loved in. Somewhere that has acquired more meaning than the place itself. And, returning to that place, you stand there and try to take it in. The block of flats. The bland new housing estate. The multi-storey car park. 

With Small Eden, I have written yet more characters into my personal landscape – the land on which our house is built, and which had an industrial history as a chalk pit. What an act of optimism it must have been for one man to turn it into a pleasure gardens at a time when the trend for pleasure gardens was over! And how did it finally become a residential street, indistinguishable from any other street in the area, but for subtle clues?

Q: Can you tell us any more about your house? 

When we moved into the cottage, hanging in the hall was a reproduction of a woodcut depicting Edwardian ladies playing a game of doubles on a tennis court. The vendors had told us that it had been the gatehouse for an estate, but that didn’t feel quite right. We consulted a local historian, who was intrigued enough by what he saw to begin researching the history of the cottage. What he had to tell us was far more interesting. The cottage was built by a Mr E Cooke. (I call him Robert.) As for what led a man to create a pleasure gardens after the last of London’s pleasure gardens had failed isn’t written in any history books. My instinct was that something from his past was driving him. It had to be a person. And that, of course, is the story. 

Q: You were writing this book at the time your father died. Did you find that your loss shaped the story?

That’s a good question. I always wonder if what’s going on in my life is visible on the page. I had already started to write about a man whose life was shaped by grief, when my father went into a care home for what should have been a fortnight’s respite care. None of us could have foreseen how rapidly he would decline. And because he was hospitalised during a lockdown, I didn’t get to see him during the last month of his life, so there was that loss too. I don’t know, perhaps I was able to flesh out my main character’s feelings as a result. 

As a writer, I can give characters histories, I can write memories into being. You might argue that they’re not real, but after my father died, I learned that some of the stories he told me about his childhood were just that. Stories. What is important is that he believed them, and because he believed them, these stories shaped him, and in turn shaped me. In fact, I have discovered that the story that inspired my novel These Fragile Things, something that I was convinced was part of my DNA, probably wasn’t true. I wanted to go on believing it, but the dates just don’t stack up. There were a lot of dates that didn’t stack up and sheaves of paperwork that pointed to the truth. So that’s something I thought about while I was writing the book. 

Q: Do you agree that writing itself is an act of preservation? 

Absolutely. My sister beta read for me and pointed out that I have used a lot of Dad’s favourite sayings in the book. I was totally unaware of this, but I’m not surprised that they crept in. Sometimes writing means bearing witness to a rapidly receding way of life. Sometimes it means resurrecting a piece of the past that has been excluded from the history books. During my research, I discovered that Mitcham, a town three miles from where I live, was once Britain’s opium-growing capital. There is no shortage of information about the area’s history of lavender growing, but even though the use of opiates was widespread in the nineteenth century, it’s actually quite hard to find information about opium growing. And so I decided that should be what my main character did for a living.

Q: You’ve talked about your leading man, but can you tell us a little about some of the women in your novel. 

Firstly, there’s Robert’s wife, Freya. Robert married her when she was only seventeen. She had come to Carshalton from Leeds for a spring-water cure. In marrying Robert, she left her large extended family. The couple barely had time to get to know each other when their first daughter Estelle arrived. The two boys Thomas and Gerrard followed in close succession, and Ida arrived shortly after the boys’ death. The loss of their sons has driven a wedge between them, not because Freya blames him, but because they simply don’t know to talk about their loss. Freya concerns herself with her daughters’ upbringing and running the household, but as Robert’s business expands, and the pleasure gardens open, she becomes socially ambitious. She’s horrified when Robert develops the calloused hands of a worker.

Then we have Robert’s mother, Hettie. Robert has always rebelled against Hettie’s excessive avoidance of risk. Hettie’s fears aren’t without good reason. She was named after a ridge in the Scottish Highlands, the place where her parents met. Then, when she was still an infant, her father was killed in a mountaineering accident, and so she knows that the world is not a kind or a safe place. Hettie has constructed a very specific set of rules to help manage her fear, until eventually she is galvanised into setting off on a pilgrimage to see for herself the place that claimed her father. This proves to be transformative. Hettie realises that her fears have no basis in reality. She’s been her own goaler all these years. And so, after an absence of several months, she arrives home in Carshalton a very different person, striding about looking like the Wild Woman of Boneo and caring little for public opinion. 

When Robert decides to run a competition for the design of his pleasure gardens, Florence Hoddy is the only woman to respond. A brilliant mind and a talented artist, she lost the use of her legs in a road accident. Hiding herself away from pitying eyes, she paints only what she sees from the window at the back of her house. 

In Small Eden, I wanted to show a world on the cusp of change. Robert says that none of the women in his life are behaving as he expects them to. I was proud to discover that my local town, Sutton, had a very progressive girls’ school, complete with a science lab (which was almost unheard of at the time). And we see Ida Cooke’s aspirations to study medicine, and this being a real possibility. We see women tennis players. And in spite of her injuries, we see Miss Hoddy being perhaps the most liberated of all of the female characters, freed from the burdens of being a woman and a mother because her accident left her chair-bound, and instead finding fulfillment through art.  

Q: Is there an environmental element to the novel?

There is certainly a call to hold back the hands of change. Robert’s father Walter was a person who carried in his head the imprint of the London he knew as a boy. As a grown man, mourning the loss of hedgerows, Robert worries that Carshalton will simply become another London suburb. Part of his motivation for buying the chalk pit is to stop it from being snapped up by house-builders. By the end of the novel, the chalk pit has been overlaid by the pleasure garden and the pleasure garden by new buildings. Nothing is permanent; it’s impossible, no matter how energetically Robert fights his own personal battle against the encroaching years.

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Small Eden

A boy with his head in the clouds. A man with a head full of dreams.  

1884. The symptoms of scarlet fever are easily mistaken for teething, as Robert Cooke and his pregnant wife Freya discover at the cost of their two infant sons. Freya immediately isolates for the safety of their unborn child. Cut off from each other, there is no opportunity for husband and wife to teach each other the language of their loss. By the time they meet again, the subject is taboo. But unspoken grief is a dangerous enemy. It bides its time.

A decade later and now a successful businessman, Robert decides to create a pleasure garden in memory of his sons, in the very same place he found refuge as a boy – a disused chalk quarry in Surrey’s Carshalton. But instead of sharing his vision with his wife, he widens the gulf between them by keeping her in the dark. It is another woman who translates his dreams. An obscure yet talented artist called Florence Hoddy, who lives alone with her unmarried brother, painting only what she sees from her window… 

‘Life as it is, in all its terrible beauty. 5 stars and three hankies’ – Jean Gill, author of Historical Fiction series The Troubadours Quartet

‘With an eye for precise detail balanced by a sweeping imagination, this beautifully constructed book is built on deep foundations. Read it at least twice.’’ – JJ Marsh, author of the Beatrice Stubbs Series

More About Jane Davis, Author

Jane Davis’s first novel, Half-Truths and White Lies, won a national award established with the aim of finding the next Joanne Harris. Further recognition followed in 2016 with An Unknown Woman being named Self-Published Book of the Year by Writing Magazine/the David St John Thomas Charitable Trust, as well as being shortlisted in the IAN Awards, and in 2019 with Smash All the Windows winning the inaugural Selfies Book Award. Her novel, At the Stroke of Nine O’Clock was featured by The Lady Magazine as one of their favourite books set in the 1950s, selected as a Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choice, and shortlisted for the Selfies Book Awards 2021.

Interested in how people behave under pressure, Jane introduces her characters when they are in highly volatile situations and then, in her words, she throws them to the lions. The themes she explores are diverse, ranging from pioneering female photographers, to relatives seeking justice for the victims of a fictional disaster.

Jane Davis lives in Carshalton, Surrey, in what was originally the ticket office for a Victorian pleasure gardens, known locally as ‘the gingerbread house’. Her house frequently features in her fiction. In fact, she burnt it to the ground in the opening chapter of ‘An Unknown Woman’. In her latest release, Small Eden, she asks the question why one man would choose to open a pleasure gardens at a time when so many others were facing bankruptcy?

When she isn’t writing, you may spot Jane disappearing up the side of a mountain with a camera in hand.

Publication Information and Links

EBook release date: 30 April 2022

Available for pre-order: 7 April 2022

Genre: Historical Fiction

Universal buy link: https://books2read.com/u/bPg68r

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60736777-small-eden

Bookbub link: https://www.bookbub.com/books/small-eden-gambles-sometimes-pay-off-and-sometimes-they-cost-dearly-by-jane-davis

Paperback release date: To be confirmed.

Contact Jane Davis

Website: https://jane-davis.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaneDavisAuthorPage/?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/janedavisauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6869939.Jane_Davis

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Obsessed with Russia?

Recently, with the terrible events in Ukraine, I have begun to wonder if I’m obsessed with Russia. 

A Child of the Cold War

When I was growing up in Finland during the Cold War, I was taught to be afraid of the Big Russian Bear next door. We had to be careful not to offend the Soviet Union.

[image error]Me chilling in our summer cottage in Kangasala, near Tampere wearing my favourite Marimekko shirt

All the TV programmes, newspapers, and even comedians were using carefully constructed language when referring to the Soviet Union. No one wanted to rock the boat. You never knew who was listening.

At school, or in the playground, we weren’t even allowed to call our Eastern neighbour Russia. It was considered a derogatory term. Russians were Soviet citizens and Russia was the Soviet Union.

Teachers saw to it that we towed the official line. But in private at home, most parents made jokes at the expense of our powerful neighbour. 

My dad would often say that if something smelled bad, it smelled like a Russian. He’d laugh at the images from the Russian cities that we saw on our brand new TV in the 1970s. To us the queues for food made the Russians look poor and deprived.

He’d say, mockingly, ‘Look how the victors live!’ 

Those of you who know Finnish history, are aware that Russia tried to invade Finland in 1939. Incredibly, we won the first leg of the war but lost the second. In the end, we had to give up a part of our territory to the Soviet Union.

My father was a small child during the Winter War, but the details of it were ingrained in his brain. If you didn’t hate the Russians privately, you were unpatriotic.

Finlandization

After the war, Finland worked hard to improve its democracy and economy. Although my parents weren’t rich, we didn’t go without.

Finland’s president during the Cold War was Urho Kekkonen. There are still various opinions on whether he was a dictator or our saviour during his 26-year reign. All I remember is seeing him kiss Russian leaders on TV. No one knows what he promised them so that they wouldn’t try to invade Finland again.

UKK as he was known, was the major player in Finlandization. This term refers to the decision of a country not to challenge a more powerful neighbour in foreign politics, while maintaining national sovereignty.

Russian Regime and the Russian People Are Not the Same

I now realise, that as well as trusting Kekkonen, I was taught to hate Russia – and Russians. A war will do that to a country.

The recent illegal attack on Ukraine has brought into clear focus my own views and – yes – my negative attitude to Russians.

As a Finn, I’ve always had difficulty separating the Russian people from the Russian regime. Which I know is wholly unfair. I’ve never been to Russia (or to the Soviet Union).

I’ve only met a handful of Russians in Finland. One couple made an impression on me when I was working weekends at the Stockmann’s department store in Helsinki in the early 1980s. The woman and man led me to the furthest corner of the sales floor and took out a bottle of vodka from their bag. The woman dressed in a drab brown coat indicated she’d give it to me as payment for a few metres of dress fabric. When I refused, she was utterly bemused. Perhaps the vodka was far more valuable than the length of silk.

Later, I felt sorry for them, although I think it would have been worse if I’d been working in the food hall.

I also don’t speak Russian, nor have I studied Russian history in any particular detail. Although much of Finnish history is also Russian history.

A Little Bit of History

Red areas are those ceded to the Soviet Union after the Continuation War in 1944. (Image: Wikipedia)

Finland became an autonomous Grand Dutchy of the Russian Empire in 1809. We gained our independence from Lenin himself in 1917. Many think this was a bit of an oversight on his part. Or that he didn’t really have time to consider the matter carefully. Us Finns have always had a knack for seeing an opportunity and grabbing it. The Communist Revolution in Russia proved a well-timed moment to re-negotiate our relationship.

By 1939, Russia had changed its mind about Finnish independence. Because of our fierce defence of the nation, Finland remained free even if it meant losing territory and spending the next 50 or so years carefully walking a very thin line between Communism and Capitalism.

But the fact remains that most of the Russian people had no choice in any of these matters.

Discrimination

While visiting California recently, I saw a report on the news about attacks against Russian restaurants and other public establishments in New York. Slogans against the war and Russians had been spraypainted on windows. Many of these places were struggling to gain customers too, even though as one restaurant owner said, ‘I am Ukrainian and many of my staff are from that country too.’

That particular restaurant decided to change its name to reflect the new reality. The same fate befell the School of Russian Ballet in Florida which had to change its name to International School of Ballet earlier this month. Shops and service sector businesses have had to do the same here in the UK too.

I understand that the sanctions can cause confusion with consumers, but surely attacking establishments for a name is just discrimination, pure and simple?

The Nordic Heart Series

Alas, I have to look at my own backyard.

At least half of my books contain a Russian villain, or several Russian ‘baddies’.

The Nordic Heart Series of books deal partly with the Cold War, and how Kaisa’s Finnish nationality comes between her and the British naval officer Peter.

Before Kaisa and Peter meet under the sparkling chandeliers of the British Embassy in Helsinki, Peter’s captain warns him about Russian ‘honey traps’. Later, when the two are planning to marry, Peter is told Kaisa could become a security risk for a submarine officer.

Both of these complications are based on true events, although the books are works of fiction.

The Red King of Helsinki

My Cold War spy novel, The Red King of Helsinki, goes full nuclear on the Russian influence in Finland.

Set in 1979, during the height of the Cold War, The Red King of Helsinki is a spy story. And yes, the villain is a Russian KGB agent, called Vladislav Kovtun.

Perhaps I overplay the threat of the Soviet Union and overstate the number of spies active on the streets of Helsinki, but who knows?

While researching this particular story at the Helsinki University Library, I came across several interesting stories and snippets of information about Russian activities in Finland in the 1970s that would make my chilly tale of espionage more than believable.

Again, I repeat, what I write is fiction.

But does this excuse withstand a closer inspection?

Love on the Island

My latest book series, titled, Love on the Island, also feature a Russian villain.

Dudnikov is a human trafficker and loan shark. He is villainous indeed. I have to admit that I haven’t based him on anyone in particular and that I have no proof that any of that kind of activity takes place on the peaceful Åland Islands.

Love on the Island Series Books 1-6

However…

The Åland Islands, situated as they are between Finland and Sweden in the middle of the Baltic Sea, have been and remain strategically important. In 1854, during the Crimean War, the Russian embattlements of Bomarsund on the islands, were attacked by Anglo-French forces because of their position.

The islands are now demilitarised. Since 1940 there’s been a Russian consulate in Mariehamn, to oversee the agreement of demilitarisation.

In 2014, it was revealed that the Russian presidency owns a piece of land, dubbed ‘Putin’s plot’, on the islands. In 2015 a Swedish comedy duo erected a gay bar on the plot as a protest against Russian anti-homosexuality laws. (See more here) The pair were prosecuted by the Russian authorities, but the Åland Island court eventually rejected the charges.

It doesn’t, therefore, seem a huge leap of faith to imagine that there would be some Russian criminality on the islands today. Well, not for a novelist at least. A novelist who grew up under the threat of a Russian invasion. My parents, though not old enough to remember, surely passed on to me the fear and obsession with the Eastern Neighbour in their DNA?

I’ll Try to Do Better

However much I can hide behind the ‘it’s only fiction’ -argument, I am aware that everything an artist does is under scrutiny and can influence the way people think. We have to be responsible and therefore, I will try to become less obsessed and biased about Russian people in my books.

I am a great lover of Russian art and literature. As a child, one of the positives of being under the country’s influence and sharing so much of history is that we were all subjected to a huge amount of Russian culture.

From Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn (oh, yes, we were allowed to read dissident Soviet literature), I loved all the Russian books I read. Chekov’s Seagull is one of my very favourite plays.

I believe there’s hope as long as we all keep reminding ourselves that the Russian people and the Russian regime are not one and the same.

I’ll also try to do better.

A Free Book?

Would you like to receive a free novella? The Young Heart is a prequel story to The Nordic Heart Series. Set in 1976, it tells the story of the 15-year-old Kaisa. As a new girl in town, she meets a much older boy, Matti.

Kaisa is just the kind of young, impressionable girl that Matti has been looking for.

But is Kaisa too young for love?

There is a Russian influence in this novella too, in that Matti’s mother is Russian. Her family were part of the aristocracy and had to flee after the Revolution.

Go here or tap the image below to get your free copy of The Young Heart now!

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Nightmare on the Island of Sal

If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you’ll know that my recent holiday in Cabo Verde turned into a bit of a ‘Nightmare on the Island of Sal’.

An Escape for a Bit of Sun

Like many others, the Englishman and I were craving a break in the sun and decided to take a gamble to book a week away in January in Cabo Verde, where sunshine is almost guaranteed year-round. Miraculously, in spite of COVID and issues with family, we managed to get away.

Beware of the Island Surf

On Day 1, we went to the beach and after sunning ourselves for an hour or so, decided to take a dip in the sea. We are both strong swimmers, and not new to bathing in the Atlantic waters. There were a few waves, and we rode them while smiling at a father and his son, who were bodyboarding alongside us. The next thing I knew, a large wave overwhelmed me.

I thought I was going to drown.

When I surfaced, spluttering, trying to catch my breath, I looked around but couldn’t see the Englishman anywhere. A horrible thought entered my mind. No, no, no, surely he hadn’t..?

Before I could do anything, another wave overtook me and threw me into a summersault. When I surfaced from that, I was hugely relieved to see my Englishman – alive. But he was on his hands and knees, moaning and holding onto his head. I began wading toward him, he was only a meter or so away from me. Before I reached him, yet another wave hit me, but this time I managed to dive through it.

Ear Trouble

By the time I got to the Englishman, who was now sitting on the edge of the water, there were people talking to him. They fetched the lifeguard who after noticing there was blood coming out of the Englishman’s ear, took us back to the hotel. One of the staff drove us to a nearby clinic. 

We were both covered in sand and seawater. There was so much sand in the Englishman’s ears that they had to wash them out before perforation of his right ear was diagnosed. His neck was sore; he’d hit his head hard on the seabed.  He told me later he’d been afraid he’d broken his neck.

The Show Must Go On

That was the start of the holiday. For the next six days, we made the best of things and pretended to the world we were having a good time. What was the point in worrying our family if, as the doctor assured us, everything would be fine after a few days?

Taking a selfie as documented by the Englishman. Can you spot the frozen smile?

Not Fit to Fly

On the morning of our homebound flight, the Englishman’s condition had worsened. He now had an infection in both ears, and most probably on the inner ear too. A second doctor told us in no uncertain terms that he should not fly – that the air pressure on both take-off and landing might make him permanently deaf. Plus it would be unbearably painful. He could not tell us how long he’d be ‘Not Fit to Fly’. 

We had to endure another week in ‘paradise’. Or, perhaps another two or three.

Paradisiacal or not, we could hardly enjoy the sand and the sea and the pool, or the rest of the fine surroundings of our five-star hotel on our extended break. The Englishman couldn’t swim, and he didn’t feel well to be in the sun. The strong winds, which are prevalent on the island, hurt his ears too. Naturally, there was no drinking.

I worried that we’d be stuck in Sal for several weeks. Apart from missing our family (who were wracked with worry), we had work to do and appointments to keep back in the UK. We could work remotely (who can’t these days?), but the Englishman was in no state to concentrate, and neither was I, really.

Not only were we ‘Not Fit to Fly’, but not really fit for anything.

Questions

There were so many questions going around in my head.

How were we so easily overwhelmed by the waves? We hadn’t even swum that far – I felt sure we were close enough to shore to touch the bottom of the seabed with our toes. The first doctor at the clinic told us that there is an undertow in the waves on the island which pulls you back if the winds are strong enough. So why didn’t anyone warn us? The holiday company, the hotel, or the lifeguard?

The What If Game

What if the Englishman had broken his neck? He could now be permanently paralyzed. What if either of us had drowned? Surely just a mere perforation and the subsequent infection is a small price to pay for the accident that could have been so much worse for us both? (I also hit my knee, but only realized after several hours it was bruised and hurting.)

Why, Oh, Why?

I keep asking myself why we went into the sea in the first place.

It was my idea. After breakfast, the Englishman asked which we should try first, the beach or the poolside. I chose the beach.

It was also my idea to go for a swim, it always is. I can’t sit still in the sun for too long, so I demanded that we’d take a dip mainly because I love swimming.

It was also my idea to travel to Sal. I’d been once before with my sister and wanted to come back to show the place to the Englishman. 

I still feel guilty.

Boats, Trains and Automobiles

After the shock over the ‘Not Fit to Fly’ diagnosis lessened, we began making mad plans for traveling back to the UK by sea and land.

I found a site charting all current cruiseliners and their routes and found a ship that was due to dock at Sal in a few days’ time. It was heading back to the Canary Islands, from where we felt certain we could catch another ship to Portugal or Spain. Then it would be a small matter of taking the train (or hiring a car) and possibly another ferry back to the UK. The snag was that the ship would sail from Sal to two other islands in the Cabo Verdean archipelago, then onto Dakar in Senegal before turning North toward the Canaries. It would take nearly a week just to reach another group of islands in the Atlantic.

Those plans came to an abrupt end when the next day, in the middle of the night, the Englishman had a nasty attack of vertigo.

We accepted our fate and tried to make the best of another week in the sun.

All’s Well That Ends Well

Luckily, on the following Sunday, we had ‘Fit to Fly’ certificate and could finally return home. The Englishman’s ears are still not back to normal, but he is improving each day. My knee is niggly, but again, it’s getting slowly better.

Moral of the story?

Well, I can’t really think of one. I know we were careful in the sea and hadn’t swum out too far. We took all medical precautions and followed doctors’ advice not to travel home by plane.

The children have told us not to travel anywhere where we can’t get home by land (they are threatening to confiscate our passports ), but, honestly, I think that we were just very unlucky.

Typically for the Englishman, he joked while we were still stuck on the island, that he’s certain that one day, he’s going to read a novel written by yours truly about a couple who have an accident in the sea and get stuck in Cabo Verde for the foreseeable.

My reply was, ‘Too soon, too soon!’

The English Heart Flash sale ends 28 February 2022

The post Nightmare on the Island of Sal appeared first on Helena Halme Author.

Sneak Peek into New Book: Andrei and Frida

I’m having such fun writing An Island Heatwave, Book 6 in the Love on the Island series, that I thought I’d share a sneak peek into the new book with you today.

Frida

You may remember Frida from the first book in the series, The Island Affair? In this short clip from the novel, Alicia, who is still reeling from the loss of her 17-year-old son, Stefan, some six months earlier, meets Frida for the first time. Alicia has just begun working for the local paper in Mariehamn, on the Åland Islands.

‘Hi,’ 
Alicia lifts her head and sees a young woman, with short cropped hair, colored pale gray and blue, standing by her desk, with her arm stretched.
‘I’m Frida,’ she says.
Alicia gets up and takes the hand. It seems a very formal greeting from someone so young. Frida doesn’t look any older than Stefan, but her handshake is surprisingly strong.
‘I’m the summer intern,’ she says and she lifts one side of her mouth into a grin. ‘So basically I do everything around here.’ Her face is now in a full smile.
‘Right,’ Alicia says.
‘And my mother is an ABBA fan, hence the name.’ The girl looks down and kicks the floor with her left boot.
‘It’s a nice name,’ Alicia says.

In the first book, Frida becomes a very important person in Alicia’s life, not least because she was Stefan’s girlfriend. When Frida gives birth to a baby girl, Anne Sofie, Alicia becomes the baby’s adoptive grandmom.

In Book 5, An Island Summer, Frida finds love with a Romanian farmer called Andrei.

If you’ve read the latest book in the series, The Island Child, you may have noticed that both Frida and Andrei are missing from the story. Some of my readers asked after this young couple, but there’s a good reason why they aren’t featured. Frida, together with her daughter, are in Romania where Andrei runs the family farm. But, you’ll be glad to hear, they are back on the island in the forthcoming novel, Book 6, An Island Heatwave.

Andrei

In An Island Summer, Book 4 in the series, Andrei arrives in Åland to find the truth about the death of his younger brother, Daniel. The first person she seeks out is Frida.

It’s love at first sight.

But for Frida, Andrei is the last person she should fall in love with.

Unbeknown to Andrei, he is baby Anne Sofie’s uncle. After Stefan’s death, Frida briefly sought solace in the arms of their mutual friend, Daniel. The result was a surprise pregnancy. Tragically, Daniel drowned at sea before the baby was born.

Andrei finds it difficult to believe that his strong younger brother perished in a fishing accident. He thinks there’s foul play, especially when he discovers that Daniel was forced to work for nothing and trafficked into the islands by a notorious Russian criminal, Dudnikov. The same criminal whom Frida suspects is her father and the true source of her mom’s riches.

Love Is Complictaed

Love conquers everything, right? Well, as you may have found if you’re read all or some of the books in the Love on the Island series, deep emotions aren’t always enough for two people to succeed in making a go of it together. Reviewers have commented that my characters’ relationships are ‘realistically complicated’, something which I am delighted about. Love – and life – is often anything but straightforward.

And so it turns out to be for Andrei and Frida.

Frida’s home is in the Åland Islands. It’s where she grew up, and it’s where she wants her daughter to be raised. After inheriting a sizeable sum from her mom, she could live anywhere, but try as she might, she cannot imagine a life away from the island.

Andrei loves his farm almost as much as he loves his family. After the loss of Daniel, he needs to stay close to his other brother, Mihai, and sister, Maria, at home in Romania.

He also loves Frida deeply. But can he be with someone whose father he believes is behind Daniel’s death? And can he trust his baby brother to look after his family farm and set up a new life on the island, or is the pullback to the land of his forefathers too strong?

Sneak Peek into New Book

Here’s the promised little sneak peek into the new book, An Island Heatwave.

Frida and Andrei planned to spend a few weeks in Romania to hand over the running of the farm to Andrei’s younger brother, Mihai. But when Alicia arrives to welcome the couple home to the island, she finds only Frida and her daughter back in the large mid-town apartment.

Frida tells Alicia how a few weeks in Romania turned into six months. Week after week, Andrei promised they’d return to the island. Yet, time after time, he argued that his brother wasn’t ready to take on the farm.

‘I didn’t know what to do. In the end, I just left. What if Andrei is never ready to leave his family or the farm. What am I going to do then?’

Alicia tries to console the tearful Frida as well as she can, at the same time she fears the young woman’s instincts are right. She thinks back to how she herself missed her home on the island while living in London. How she never properly settled in England, always feeling like a stranger. However much she loved Liam, their son Stefan, and the lovely house in Crouch End, she always longed to be in Åland instead.

As she watches Frida dab at the eyes, smearing her make-up, Alicia reminds herself it doesn’t have to be that way. People can move, and many do, happily living in another country. Look at Liam. He isn’t regretting his decision to join Alicia on the island.

Alicia puts an arm over Frida’s shoulders and gives them a squeeze.

‘You have to give him time.’

Frida turns her head toward Alicia and tries to pull the corners of her mouth into a weak smile. She nods, but Alicia can see she’s not convinced.

Pre-order An Island Heatwave Now

You can now pre-order An Island Heatwave for just $2.99. The novel will be out in June (please ignore the date on Amazon) when the new title will revert to the usual price of $4.99. Just tap the button below to find out more.

Preorder AN ISLAND HEATWAVE Now

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New Reads for New Year 2022

New Year means new reads and, for me, 2022 has so far proved to be very productive in that respect.

Those of you who read my newsletter know that I’ve recently returned from quite an eventful holiday in the sun, where in spite of the drama, I had a lot of time to read. 

Below are the best reads form my holiday. They are, as usual, in various genres, including Nordic Noir, Thrillers, Historical, Psychological and Women’s Fiction. A mixed bag, you could say!

The Second Mrs Astor by Shana Abe

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Those of you who are already looking forward to watching Julian Fellows‘ The Gilded Age on TV, should read The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe. This novel, set in New York in the early 1900s follows a young socialite, Madeleine Force, as she meets and falls in love with a much older man, Colonel Jack Astor. (His mother, Mrs Lina Astor, is featured in the TV series). Causing a scandal, the two marry and go on an extended honeymoon to Egypt.

If you know your history well, it won’t be a spoiler to tell you that this is also a story of the sinking of the Titanic – in fact, the book’s subtitle mentions the fated cruise liner. The novel is, however, so much more than just another book about the Titanic. This story is about love, tolerance (or the lack of), equality and humanity.

Madaleine is acutely aware of her inadequate social standing compared to the Astors’ Knickerbocker ancestry. What’s more, Jack Astor is more than 25 years her senior and the richest man in the country. After their marriage, Madelaine is shunned by society and haunted by the press. To escape the scandal – and the freezing New York winter – the pair decide to take a trip to warmer climes. Having met the Chairman of the White Star Line, Bruce Ismay, during their journey, Jack is keen to travel home on the maiden voyage of the new Olympic-class ocean liner. Needless to say, it’s a fated decision.

The Second Mrs. Astor is a very engaging read and one that kept my mind off our own troubles at sea.

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

A Reese’s Book Club novel, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave is a slow-burn psychological thriller, but not a particularly fast-paced one.

Hannah and Owen are newly married and living, on the surface, a perfect life in Sacramento. The only fly the ointment is Owen’s 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Bailey is a typical teenager, whose affections Hannah is yet to gain. The girl lost her mother at the age of only 11, so Hannah knows it will take time for her to get used to Owen’s new love. Besides, Hannah knows what it’s like to live without parents. Her own single mother abandoned her at an early age.

When Hannah receives a cryptic note from Owen, who promptly disappears without a trace, she immediately knows what she needs to do: Protect Bailey, whether the girl wants her to or not.

But first, she needs to find out why Owen has left her alone with Bailey. When the news breaks that the CEO of the company he worked for, a software start-up, has been arrested for fraud, Hannah is even more confused. Why wouldn’t her honourable husband stay and face the music to show that he wasn’t involved in any criminal activity? Because, surely, he is innocent?

When she is interviewed by the FBI and a mysterious U.S. marshall pays her a visit, Hannah begins to investigate Owen’s past to find clues to where he might have fled to. Her investigations lead to Austin, Texas, and to some very dangerous people. Suddenly, it becomes very clear why Owen asked her to keep Bailey safe.

The Last Thing He Told Me is a true roller coaster ride. At first, you think the story is straightforward, but twist after twist keeps you guessing and turning the page. A great read, whether you are on the beach or enjoyng a book by the fire.

To Love And Be Loved by Amanda Prowse

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I’m a huge fan of Amanda Prowse’s books. She’s a master at telling stories of ordinary people with extraordinary lives.

To Love And Be Loved is set in Cornwall, in a small fishing village swamped by tourists in the summer and overtaken by second-homers. Merrin’s family have lived in Port Charles for as long as anyone can remember and she plans never to leave her beloved village. Unless it is to find a husband, since eligible men are thin on the ground in such a small place.

When Digby Mortimer, a boy who spends his summers in Port Charles while running the family biscuit empire with his father in Bristol, asks her to marry him, she’s over the moon. Unlike the rest of her family, who are suspicious of the short courtship and the two families’ different standing in the community. After all, Merrin’s ma works as a cleaner for Digby’s stuck-up mother in the Mortimers’ large house in the village.

Blinded by love, Merrin doesn’t see the looming disaster. Devasted by events, she flees the village to avoid humiliation and scandal, only to return six years later after the loss of a close family member. She realises how much she has missed Port Charles, and how much she needs to be with those that truly love her.

To Love And Be Loved is a heartbreaking story of love and betrayal. It’s a great portrayal of a close family, its complicated relationship and sibling rivalries, as well as the strength of friendships. There’s also a great lesson in this book about the changing face of love. How a passion can turn into a friendship and vice versa.

If you love a heartbreaking story with a happy ending, you cannot go wrong with this latest novel by Amanda Prowse.

Worst. Idea. Ever. by Jane Fallon

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Described as a witty page-turner, Worst. Idea. Ever. is certainly a book that you cannot put down. Perfect for a never-ending holiday in the sun!

This is what it says about the book on Amazon, and I could not have put it better myself:

Georgia is lying to her best friend Lydia.

Just a little white lie – a fake Twitter account to support Lydia’s struggling business. No harm meant. But maybe this wasn’t Georgia’s best idea ever.

Because Lydia wants to confide in her new (fake) Twitter friend. About Georgia and her husband Nick, who might be having an affair.

Georgia wants out. Except what if it’s true? She needs to trick Lydia into revealing all.
But there’s another possibility. Lydia could be lying right back . . .

Has Georgia’s worst idea ever turned out to be Lydia’s best idea ever?

White Heron by JJ Marsh

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Those of you who read my blog regularly, know that I’m a huge fan of JJ Marsh. I’ve read all the books in her Beatrice Stubbs series, set in various European cities. Those stories, although crime thrillers, are of the gentler kind – more in the vein of modern Miss Marple stories than blood-curling Nordic Noir novels.

White Heron, a much darker tale, is the first in a new series by JJ Marsh. Set in Brazil, it follows a runaway cop Ann, who has chosen a remote beach in the rainy season to flee from her enemies. She has to remain anonymous to protect herself. When she gets embroiled in the death of a local youth, Ann meets a smart policeman. A policeman who is curious about her past. Just what she doesn’t need to remain hidden.

But Ann cannot help herself. She soon begins her own investigations into the young man’s demise, which takes her deeper into the murky underworld of her new neighbourhood. Will Ann be able to find the truth behind the death while still saving herself from her own enemies?

I loved the slow, menacing pace of the White Heron and cannot wait to read the second book in the series, Run And Hide.

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Publication Day Blues

The Island Child is out today, but why do I have publication day blues?

This is my 14th fiction title and you’d think thatI’d be used to the whole publication routine. The writing, editing, deciding on the cover and making plans for the launch. But you’d be wrong.

The publication process is alwys equally demanding. It also seems that even though I think the feelings I’m having are unusual and unique to this title (I’m calling it Publication Day Blues), it has happened before.

In the past week, I’ve been reminded by people who’ve worked with me on all of my books, that my reactions are pretty much the same each time I publish. The ever-supportive Englishman and my sister (among others), have pointed out that the emotions I go through are equally dramatic each time.

A Literary Drama Queen?

The thought that I’m a bit of a drama queen has occurred to me. 

But I don’t seem to be able to stop the predictable cycle. Whilst writing the story, there’s first elation, then complete submersion into the plot and characters, followed by despair and finally horrible panic that I will never finish the book in time. In one of my non-fiction titles, I equal writing a novel to falling in love, but each time, I conveniently forget how all-consuming the feelings are.

The editing is yet another hand-wringing phase where I am convinced that I’ve written the most awful book yet.

Now, on the actual publication day, I feel quite exhausted and slightly empty, when I should be celebrating. I have Publication Day Blues.

A drama queen or not, the emotions are real.

And then I get the first reader reviews and I can breathe again.

What the Readers Say

Each time I publish a new book, I send a number of Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) to people who’ve kindly agreed to read a rough copy of the book before publication. I’ve never met most of these readers. Many of them live thousands of miles away, but we share a love of books and stories. And we exchange emails on books, and, sometiems, on life’s various challenges. 

You can imagine that I am on tenterhooks until I hear from these first readers. These Advance Readers are like guardian angels to any writer, and I couldn’t do what I do if it wasn’t for a small, but loyal group of them. 

Here is are a few comments I’ve had on The Island Child, which have warmed my heart and have somewhat alleviated the Publication Day Blues.

“I really liked the blending of romance and Noir. Helena Halme balances many different storylines skillfully in a way that’s easy to follow.”

“A good, entertaining story with some twists and surprises along the way and a real Christmas feel despite the almost total lack of snow!”

“All of the couples interacting in each other’s lives kept the story really interesting to a page-turner level.”

Crazy Happy

Of course, like the early reviews, holding the first proof copy of the book makes me happy. But each time I look back to images of me with the first copies of my books, I can see a slightly mad look in my eyes. Perhaps it’s just tiredness, but I would diagnose my mental condition now as Publication Day Blues. 

Holding a proof copy of The Island Child

Here I am with the proof copy of An Island Summer in June 2021

And here I am with The Island Daughter in August 2020

Do you recognise the similarities in these photos? I’m looking a bit crazy, right?

Oh well, at least now I know what’s coming next as I start the whole writing and publication process for Book 6 (yet untitled) in the Love on the Island Series. Wish me luck that the emotional roller coaster will be a little gentler on me this time. Although, is that what I really want? Isn’t it the thrills and spills that make us writers thrive? Discuss …

THE ISLAND CHILD

A Christmas baby should give hope and joy to everyone on the starkly beautiful Scandinavian islands …

While Brit awaits the arrival of her first child, a visitor to the islands threatens to reveal an uncomfortable secret from her past. To add to her woes, her partner, Sea Captain Jukka, runs his cruise liner aground the night before Christmas, just as the baby decides to be born.

Meanwhile, Alicia’s ex-husband, Liam, has made the leap of faith and moved to the islands from London to rekindle their relationship and start an exciting new business venture with her. However, a small part of Alicia’s heart still belongs to the Swedish journalist, Patrick. Two years ago, they began a passionate affair.

Alicia knows she can’t trust Patrick – his betrayals have been heartbreaking and destructive, but when Patrick is rushed to hospital in Stockholm she races to his side. Liam fears this means she still has deep feelings for the journalist.

But unbeknown to Liam, a threat hangs over Alicia and everyone she loves. With Patrick in hospital, her best friend, Brit, alone and vulnerable, how can Alicia say no to an offer made by an old and powerful nemesis?

Talk about impossible choices …

Read The Island Child, the page-turning Book 5 in the ‘sensational’ (NetGalley) Love on the Island Series now.

The Island Child: A story of love drama and impossible choices

Read THE ISLAND CHILD

The post Publication Day Blues appeared first on Helena Halme Author.

Sneak peek into my new novel!

Would you like a sneak peek into my new novel? Well, you’re in luck!

The Island Child, a story set on the Scandinavian Åland Islands during Christmastime, will be out next week, on December 9th. But I thougth you migth like chance to read not one, but two exclusive chapters from my new novel before other readers.

The Island Child

A Christmas baby should give hope and joy to everyone on the starkly beautiful Scandinavian islands …

While Brit awaits the arrival of her first child, a visitor to the islands threatens to reveal an uncomfortable secret from her past. To add to her woes, her partner, Sea Captain Jukka, runs his cruise liner aground the night before Christmas, just as the baby decides to be born.

Meanwhile, Alicia’s ex-husband, Liam, has made the leap of faith and moved to the islands from London to rekindle their relationship and start an exciting new business venture with her. However, a small part of Alicia’s heart still belongs to the Swedish journalist, Patrick. Two years ago, they began a passionate affair.

Alicia knows she can’t trust Patrick – his betrayals have been heartbreaking and destructive, but when Patrick is rushed to hospital in Stockholm she races to his side. Liam fears this means she still has deep feelings for the journalist.

But unbeknown to Liam, a threat hangs over Alicia and everyone she loves. With Patrick in hospital, her best friend, Brit, alone and vulnerable, how can Alicia say no to an offer made by an old and powerful nemesis?

Talk about impossible choices …

Read Chapters 1 & 2 From My New Novel

If you just cannot wait until next week, you can now read chapters one and two from my new novel, before it’s published and available in bookstores.

All you need to do is to let me have your email address so that I know where to send it. Just tap the button below and you will get a link to a format of your choice that you can read on your phone, Kindle or any other device. Download the exclusive chapters from The Island Daughter now!

Happy reading!

The Island Child Exclusive Chapters 1 & 2

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The Island Child Plot Reveal (No Spoilers)

My next novel, The Island Child, a seasonal story set on the stunningly beautiful, but sparsely populated Åland Islands, will be out early next month. Today, I can reveal a little more about the plot, but there are no spoilers, don’t worry.

Love on the Island Series

I’ve long wanted to set a story on the Åland Islands, where I spent many years as a ‘summer islander’. However, I couldn’t quite decide what the books would be about. When I found Alicia, the main character, I could finally start writing about the folk living on the starkly beautiful islands, situated in the Baltic ocean between Finland and Sweden.

The Charcaters

Alicia, who grew up on the islands, is a tragic character in the first book. She has lost her 17-year-old son in a motorcycle accident. Six months later, when holidaying on the islands, she and her surgeon husband, Liam, decide to separate. She finds solace in the arms of a blond, blue-eyed Swede, Patrick. But their passionate affair is far from smooth sailing.

The books also tell the stories of the loves and lives of Alicia’s feisty mom Hilda, her best friend from school, Brit, and her late son’s girlfriend, the strong-willed Frida.

Hilda, who left her husband when Alicia was a baby holds a huge secret, which she reveals in Book 3, The Island Daughter.

In Book 2, An Island Christmas, we meet Brit, who after sailing the seven seas while working on Caribbean cruise liners, settles back on the islands in very much the same way as Alicia.

Frida, on the other hand, appears in all of the books. Her life is full of tragedy. First, her mom is in a home, suffering from dementia. Then she loses her beloved Stefan, Alicia’s son. Lastly, a good friend, a Romanian youngster perishes in a fishing accident at sea. In Book 4, An Island Summer, Frida finally finds love.

A Love Triangle

In all the books in the series, Alicia is torn between her husband and her lover, as well as trying to come to terms with the death of her son. Her life is further complicated by a certain Russian villain, whose claws reach far closer to her life than she could imagine …

LOVE ON THE ISLAND SERIES:

The Day We Met (Prequel short story – get it for free here)

The Island Affair (Book 1)

An Island Christmas (Book 2)

The Island Daughter (Book 3)

Love on the Island Boxed Set (Books 1-3)

An Island Summer (Book 4)

The Island Child (Book 5)

All the books in the series can be enjoyed as stand-alone reads. Travel by book to these stunningly beautiful Scandinavian islands and get lost in the drama and intrigue of the Love on the Island Series.

I’m now writing the last book in the series (yet unnamed). I have the plot in broad terms set out, and I’m really enjoying writing about my characters. They keep getting themselves into such trouble!

The Island Child Plot

The Island Child, Book Six in the Love in the Island Series sees Alicia struggle with her emotional choices, but at the same time, an old adversary appears, making her decisions even harder.

A Christmas baby should give hope and joy to everyone on the starkly beautiful Scandinavian islands …

While Brit awaits the arrival of her first child, a visitor to the islands threatens to reveal an uncomfortable secret from her past. To add to her woes, her partner, Sea Captain Jukka, runs his cruise liner aground the night before Christmas, just as the baby decides to be born.

Meanwhile, Alicia’s ex-husband, Liam, has made the leap of faith and moved to the islands from London to rekindle their relationship and start an exciting new business venture with her. However, a small part of Alicia’s heart still belongs to the Swedish journalist, Patrick. Two years ago, they began a passionate affair.

Alicia knows she can’t trust Patrick – his betrayals have been heartbreaking and destructive, but when Patrick is rushed to hospital in Stockholm she races to his side. Liam fears this means she still has deep feelings for the journalist.

But unbeknown to Liam, a threat hangs over Alicia and everyone she loves. With Patrick in hospital, her best friend, Brit, alone and vulnerable, how can Alicia say no to an offer made by an old and powerful nemesis?

Talk about impossible choices …

Pre-Order Offer

The Island Child is now on pre-order. The novel will be out early December priced at $4.99. If however, you preorder the Kindle copy today, you can get it for just $2.99! Not only do you get the brand new novel at a ridiculously low price, but it will be dropped onto your eReader on the day of publicaiton without any effort from you. Thus saving time and removing yet another thing from your to-do-list before Christmas.

Now, that’s what I call service.

PPRE-ORDER THE ISLAND CHILD NOW

Some of the links above may include my affiliate profile on Amazon. If you click on the links, I get a small percentage at absolutely no extra cost to you.

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