Author Interview: Helen Scott Taylor

I was recently lucky enough to convince Helen Scott Taylor to do an interview for Herbooklist (thank you Helen). It was a great honor as I am a big fan of her books. She currently lives in England and has written over five novels. She's a great author who has the ability create incredible characters and great love stories. I feel in love with Oceans Between Us and would urge all romance lovers to read her books. 

What inspired you to write your first book?

I enjoyed writing stories when I was a child but gave up when I moved on to senior school and got more interested in science. I never lost my love of reading fiction, though. My interest in writing was reawakened when I went on a course that was supposed to be about dealing with issues, but the technique they used was to write about our past. I haven't stopped writing since!

How did you come up with the titles?

Sometimes I think of a title before I start writing a story and the story is partly shaped by its title. Other times the title comes to me when I'm writing. A few times I have finished a book and had no idea what title to give it. Each time is different. Of course, traditional publishers often discard the author's own title and come up with their own. One of the great things about publishing a book oneself is that the author gets to choose their own title.

I do draw on my life experiences in my contemporary romances. For instance, A Family for Christmas is set on Dartmoor near where I live and in the book I have just finished writing, A Family Forever, the heroine rescues injured hedgehogs and re-homes them. I have experience of this as our garden is a hedgehog re-homing site for a local rescue organisation. One thing I've never done is use people I know in my stories. The closest I have come to this is the cat in The Phoenix Charm, one of my Magic Knot Fairies books. I based the cat on my own pet.

What books have most influenced your life most?

Gosh, this is a difficult one. I guess the books I read as a child and teenager that started my love of reading. I devoured books about horses and ponies when I was a child. Later, as a teen, I worked my way through the classics. My love of romance probably derived from reading books like Pride and Prejudice. I read a whole variety of authors, many of them American authors. Just recently I've discovered Rita Herron, Nancy Radke and Lorhainne Eckhart. They all write contemporary romance and that is my favourite genre at the moment.

What are your current projects?

I have just finished writing a novella called A Family Forever. It is not directly related to my A Family for Christmas story that has been so popular, but it explores the same theme of family relationships. This is something that is very much on my mind at the moment and I'm enjoying writing stories about families with children and often animals included in the storyline. I've also just published a paranormal romance that I first wrote in 2006!

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

It really started years ago when my father used to tell me bedtime stories about my soft toys. I wrote my first stories about my teddy bear and my rabbit! One of my all time favourite authors is Santa Montefiore. I love the way she weaves the past and present together, I love her evocative scene setting and her characters. I particularly enjoy listening to her stories as talking books as the writing is often poetic and lends itself well to being read out loud.

Have you read fifty shades of Grey and what do you think of the characters?

Yes, I had to! When a book or series is so popular, as a writer, I'm always curious to know why. I've read all the recent mega star books such as The Hunger Games, the Twilight series, and Harry Potter. I did find the Fifty Shades trilogy compelling and disturbing. I wanted to dislike Christian Grey, but was disturbed to find I didn't. In a twisted way I liked him LOL. (Although I'd run a mile if I ever encountered him in real life!) Strangely, I found myself angry on his behalf as a mother, hating what had been done to him when he was a child and then again when he was a teen. I found Ana to be a far less interesting character.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

In this day and age when anyone can write a story and put it up for sale on Amazon, I'd say be sure to hone your craft before you publish a book. Join a writing group, read books on writing, have your story critiqued by people who can write and can give you good advice.