Ask the Author: Helen Callaghan
Answered Questions (7)
Helen Callaghan
So sorry, can't believe I never answered this! Thanks so much for your kind words and I hope you did review it here, but to be honest am just delighted you enjoyed it. ;)
Helen Callaghan
Hi Mariia, that's a hard question in some ways. There are a couple of different pieces to it - firstly, when did I know I was a writer? And the answer, I suppose, is ever since I was very young. As a child I loved to write stories (it went hand in hand with an obsessive love of reading), and I distinctly remember as a pre-teen airily telling my parents that when I left school my plan was to stay home and write until I had my big break. This plan was greeted with all the enthusiasm that you might expect under the circumstances.
But there is another piece to the question, which is, when did I first feel justified in putting my writing and the time I spend doing it first? By which I mean, in taking it seriously, if you like - and that was much later - probably not until ten or so years ago.
And there is a final piece - when did I first feel like a "real" writer? And that would have been in the Tesco in Bar Hill, near Cambridge. I had wandered in, yawning and scruffy, looking for a pack of blueberries to make breakfast with. I remember walking past this row of copies of Dear Amy and just thinking, oh, wow. Look at that. This thing has independent life now, and will go on and be read by people that know nothing of me and my yawning and blueberries and my flapping sandals that rub my heel. Previous to this, of course, the only people that read my books were friends and people that actually knew me. So that was a very strange moment.
But there is another piece to the question, which is, when did I first feel justified in putting my writing and the time I spend doing it first? By which I mean, in taking it seriously, if you like - and that was much later - probably not until ten or so years ago.
And there is a final piece - when did I first feel like a "real" writer? And that would have been in the Tesco in Bar Hill, near Cambridge. I had wandered in, yawning and scruffy, looking for a pack of blueberries to make breakfast with. I remember walking past this row of copies of Dear Amy and just thinking, oh, wow. Look at that. This thing has independent life now, and will go on and be read by people that know nothing of me and my yawning and blueberries and my flapping sandals that rub my heel. Previous to this, of course, the only people that read my books were friends and people that actually knew me. So that was a very strange moment.
Helen Callaghan
Hi there, and sorry got the delay in replying! Thanks so much - I'm delighted you're enjoying the books! I do indeed have a new novel coming out next year. It is set in Cornwall and involves divers on a shipwreck. It doesn't have a title yet but the minute it does I will be posting it on Goodreads!
Helen Callaghan
It's a mistake, but not deliberate. ;) Years ago, the book was set somewhere else, and when I moved to Cambridge I made the decision to change the setting to somewhere more local. However, I didn't change this - well spotted!
Helen Callaghan
Not yet, but fingers crossed - would love to see it as a movie one day! :)
Helen Callaghan
I've got a stack of proofs I've been sent that I'm really looking forward to - The Marriage Pact by Michelle Raymond, Last Seen Alive by Claire Douglas, Last Seen by Lucy Clarke, You Don't Know Me by Imran Mahmood and The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins.
Helen Callaghan
Hi there - who did order it from? That would be who to contact, I think. Hope this helps!
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