Faye Hall's Blog
May 18, 2023
What's in a name
When I started writing the Sins of the Virtuous series, quite a lot of research had to go into them. Amongst the research of the obvious sins and virtues, I wanted to include something for me, and for those readers that were curious to look beyond the story a little. I’m talking about the origin of the names of the characters.
There have been a couple of readers who have commented on the names used in these seven books, not all of those as positive as I’d hoped. Nonetheless, the names of the main characters weren’t chosen because I envisioned someone would have named their child this in history, so much as being names that suited the subject of each book.
For those interested:
Lust & Chastity –Caitlyn Sinclair’s first and last name means pure (which can be another name for chastity).
Indulgence & Temperance – Beth Meridian’s surname means middle (which can be another name for temperance).
Avarice & Charity – Avarice is another name for greed and Charity is self explaining.
Apathy & Vigour – Tristen Brone’s first and last name means sorrowful (which is another name for apathy). Amalie means industrious (which is another name for vigour) and Fergus means strength (which can also translate as vigour)
Wrath and Mercy – Finley Helmer’s surname mean’s fighting fury (which can translate to wrath). Elina Clemence’s surname directly translates as mercy.
Envy and Favour – Atol Livia entire name means hateful and envious. Anna Jenel’s entire name means gracious or favour.
Vanity and Humility – Cady means humility
https://fayehall.com.au/whats-in-a-name
There have been a couple of readers who have commented on the names used in these seven books, not all of those as positive as I’d hoped. Nonetheless, the names of the main characters weren’t chosen because I envisioned someone would have named their child this in history, so much as being names that suited the subject of each book.
For those interested:
Lust & Chastity –Caitlyn Sinclair’s first and last name means pure (which can be another name for chastity).
Indulgence & Temperance – Beth Meridian’s surname means middle (which can be another name for temperance).
Avarice & Charity – Avarice is another name for greed and Charity is self explaining.
Apathy & Vigour – Tristen Brone’s first and last name means sorrowful (which is another name for apathy). Amalie means industrious (which is another name for vigour) and Fergus means strength (which can also translate as vigour)
Wrath and Mercy – Finley Helmer’s surname mean’s fighting fury (which can translate to wrath). Elina Clemence’s surname directly translates as mercy.
Envy and Favour – Atol Livia entire name means hateful and envious. Anna Jenel’s entire name means gracious or favour.
Vanity and Humility – Cady means humility
https://fayehall.com.au/whats-in-a-name
April 11, 2023
Author’s Note
Amorous Redemption, a no-longer-available book of mine, was riddled with problems and a restricted plot due to my then-publisher and the interesting way they chose to run their company and treat their authors.
After many years later, and after some very hard learnt experience that was forced upon me, I got the rights to all my books returned to me. Some have been re-released as they were. Some have been put aside until I can figure out what to do with them.
Amorous Redemption was one of the books that were gutted and rewritten the way the story should have always been told. The end result was Lovers Ransom.
Lovers Ransom
After many years later, and after some very hard learnt experience that was forced upon me, I got the rights to all my books returned to me. Some have been re-released as they were. Some have been put aside until I can figure out what to do with them.
Amorous Redemption was one of the books that were gutted and rewritten the way the story should have always been told. The end result was Lovers Ransom.
Lovers Ransom
January 20, 2022
New beginnings for 2022
So a bit of an UPDATE...The winds of change blew by before Christmas and I have found myself without a publisher. So in the only way I know how I am taking the plunge and trying a few different things.
My wonderful hubby is currently rebuilding my website. I have a few wonderful humans beta reading some scripts that have been sitting on the computer for a while. I'm also trying to understand the rules of formatting and printing and the likes - which is resulting in some wine and chocolate being eaten as I try to make some sense of it all.
But anyone who knows me understands I never give up easily, and I have the most wonderful family around me who just won't let me (kids will tell you that quitting isn't a word allowed in our house).
And seems I will be starting again, I figure I might dredge up some ditties I wrote when I was at school and send them out in to the world just as they were written.
Anyways, just thought I should let everyone know that Faye Hall isn't gone, she's just finding herself a little and will be back before you know it...
Take care and stay safe 💋💖
My wonderful hubby is currently rebuilding my website. I have a few wonderful humans beta reading some scripts that have been sitting on the computer for a while. I'm also trying to understand the rules of formatting and printing and the likes - which is resulting in some wine and chocolate being eaten as I try to make some sense of it all.
But anyone who knows me understands I never give up easily, and I have the most wonderful family around me who just won't let me (kids will tell you that quitting isn't a word allowed in our house).
And seems I will be starting again, I figure I might dredge up some ditties I wrote when I was at school and send them out in to the world just as they were written.
Anyways, just thought I should let everyone know that Faye Hall isn't gone, she's just finding herself a little and will be back before you know it...
Take care and stay safe 💋💖
April 23, 2021
Why I write
I was doing an interview a few weeks ago and I was asked what inspires me to write the kind of stories that I do – Historical Romantic Suspense. I’ve been asked this question so many times over the last few years, but for some reason this day I couldn’t just answer it. Usually I say my inspiration comes from the stories my parents used to tell me, which is true. The reality is though that isn’t why I write though. The real reason is something much more closer to my heart.
I was one of those children at school who always had a pen and notebook with them. While other kids were out playing netball or gossiping, I was usually sitting under a tree somewhere writing. Throughout my last few years of high school my English teacher asked me what I wanted to do with my life. When I told him I wanted to be a writer he laughed and told me I would never be good enough. As a teenager that was hard to hear, but still I never gave up. Looking back now I guess I wanted to prove that he was wrong.
As the years passed by life took over as it does, but still I wrote where and when I can until finally I got offered a book contract. I was so excited I started working on the next book, and the next. I thought I had finally got my foot in the door and was on my way to accomplishing my writing dream. Then one day I came home to see the man I was living with ready to delete my life’s work from the computer. I begged him not to. He spat at me and told me that I would never be an author and that I should remember he could take it all away from me in a second. This happened so many times over the years I stayed in that house. Eventually my book contract fell through and I gave up writing mainly because I could no longer see the point. How could I keep writing romance stories that always ended with a happily ever after when I lived in a destructive abusive relationship?
Eventually, after seventeen very long years, and numerous death threats later, I managed to take my children and escape that house. I set up home in a tiny little rental house and tried to put my life back together. One day, not long after all this horror, I went to a coffee shop and ran into a man I had known since I was about thirteen. We got talking about how our lives had both been turned on their heads, and he asked how I was going to keep my writing career going. No one had ever asked me that before. No one had ever cared even if I spoke about it.
When I told him about the debacle of my life and how I had nearly lost my life’s work so many times, he offered to set a computer up for me with extra backup drives so that could never happen again. Though I appreciated his offer I reminded him of the hypocrisy of someone like me trying to write happily ever after books. He kissed me on the cheek and told me that maybe I just wrote about what I wanted to find myself.
He was right.
That was why I wrote the kind of stories I used to write. But his words – his kindness – gave me another reason to write. I started writing again that night and sent off a manuscript in a matter of weeks. I’ve been lucky enough to be published ever since. But the reason I write now is because I found my own happy ending. I no longer write about fairy tales. I write about a love so strong that all the evils of the world can’t defeat it.
So if you were to ask me now what inspires me to write, the answer is easy. It is him. The man who bought me a coffee that day and set up my computer. The same man who is now my husband and has given me my own happily ever after.
I was one of those children at school who always had a pen and notebook with them. While other kids were out playing netball or gossiping, I was usually sitting under a tree somewhere writing. Throughout my last few years of high school my English teacher asked me what I wanted to do with my life. When I told him I wanted to be a writer he laughed and told me I would never be good enough. As a teenager that was hard to hear, but still I never gave up. Looking back now I guess I wanted to prove that he was wrong.
As the years passed by life took over as it does, but still I wrote where and when I can until finally I got offered a book contract. I was so excited I started working on the next book, and the next. I thought I had finally got my foot in the door and was on my way to accomplishing my writing dream. Then one day I came home to see the man I was living with ready to delete my life’s work from the computer. I begged him not to. He spat at me and told me that I would never be an author and that I should remember he could take it all away from me in a second. This happened so many times over the years I stayed in that house. Eventually my book contract fell through and I gave up writing mainly because I could no longer see the point. How could I keep writing romance stories that always ended with a happily ever after when I lived in a destructive abusive relationship?
Eventually, after seventeen very long years, and numerous death threats later, I managed to take my children and escape that house. I set up home in a tiny little rental house and tried to put my life back together. One day, not long after all this horror, I went to a coffee shop and ran into a man I had known since I was about thirteen. We got talking about how our lives had both been turned on their heads, and he asked how I was going to keep my writing career going. No one had ever asked me that before. No one had ever cared even if I spoke about it.
When I told him about the debacle of my life and how I had nearly lost my life’s work so many times, he offered to set a computer up for me with extra backup drives so that could never happen again. Though I appreciated his offer I reminded him of the hypocrisy of someone like me trying to write happily ever after books. He kissed me on the cheek and told me that maybe I just wrote about what I wanted to find myself.
He was right.
That was why I wrote the kind of stories I used to write. But his words – his kindness – gave me another reason to write. I started writing again that night and sent off a manuscript in a matter of weeks. I’ve been lucky enough to be published ever since. But the reason I write now is because I found my own happy ending. I no longer write about fairy tales. I write about a love so strong that all the evils of the world can’t defeat it.
So if you were to ask me now what inspires me to write, the answer is easy. It is him. The man who bought me a coffee that day and set up my computer. The same man who is now my husband and has given me my own happily ever after.
My Path To Publication
I’ve been writing since I was a child, but decided to try and make a career out of it at about 17.
My very first complete novel was actually picked up straight away by a company called Venus Press, but unfortunately they had financial issues and my rights were returned to me. After that it was a struggle for quite come years of many rejection letters until I was taken up by another publisher in 2010. From then it’s been a constant push but I’ve managed to get a book out a year through several publishers.
I write mostly at home, though my phone also has an assortment of notes and chapters hidden on it. As for rituals, I’m very old school and still start a story the same way I use to at high school – I put on some music and I handwrite a rough story structure.
I’m a bit of a plotter and a panster. Most of what I try to plan on papers usually always changes drastically when I type it on the computer.
My favorite part of the writing process is the first draft, especially of the most dramatic scenes. I find it a very raw part of the process and the most creative.
The most important part of a novel to me is a good plot with lots of twists and turns.
I so want to say my writing routine is precise but I really can’t. My husband is a shift worker and we currently have 5 of our children living at home and at school so my life is usually super busy. I write what I can where I can pretty much. The only real routine I have is usually about a week of self-edits before I send a script away. These usually include a long list of words I’m guilty of over using, as well as shortening any words that need to be – it’s a long list that I go through with each book before I send it on it’s way.
I’m currently trying to write about 3 a year but I always strive for more.
The publishing company I’m currently with was something I literally stumbled upon in a google search. I was with another company at the time that were very slow and I wasn’t happy with their ethics or process so I was desperate to find something else. I sent them a script in 2014 and they loved it. I’ve been with Beachwalk Press ever since.
My very first complete novel was actually picked up straight away by a company called Venus Press, but unfortunately they had financial issues and my rights were returned to me. After that it was a struggle for quite come years of many rejection letters until I was taken up by another publisher in 2010. From then it’s been a constant push but I’ve managed to get a book out a year through several publishers.
I write mostly at home, though my phone also has an assortment of notes and chapters hidden on it. As for rituals, I’m very old school and still start a story the same way I use to at high school – I put on some music and I handwrite a rough story structure.
I’m a bit of a plotter and a panster. Most of what I try to plan on papers usually always changes drastically when I type it on the computer.
My favorite part of the writing process is the first draft, especially of the most dramatic scenes. I find it a very raw part of the process and the most creative.
The most important part of a novel to me is a good plot with lots of twists and turns.
I so want to say my writing routine is precise but I really can’t. My husband is a shift worker and we currently have 5 of our children living at home and at school so my life is usually super busy. I write what I can where I can pretty much. The only real routine I have is usually about a week of self-edits before I send a script away. These usually include a long list of words I’m guilty of over using, as well as shortening any words that need to be – it’s a long list that I go through with each book before I send it on it’s way.
I’m currently trying to write about 3 a year but I always strive for more.
The publishing company I’m currently with was something I literally stumbled upon in a google search. I was with another company at the time that were very slow and I wasn’t happy with their ethics or process so I was desperate to find something else. I sent them a script in 2014 and they loved it. I’ve been with Beachwalk Press ever since.
