Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Monroe, North Carolina, but grew up so far out in the farm country of South Carolina that we had to pump in sunlight. Eight miles west was a small town, and five miles east was a village.
My parents, five siblings, and I lived in a two-hundred-year-old farm house with an oil heater which warmed only the living room. Believe me when I say it was nothing like Tara. We froze in the winter and burned up in the summer. Our fire places smoked, so we didn’t use them. I can remember seeing my own breath in the bedroom I shared with my two sisters.
During my childhood, my three brothers hunted much of what we ate. Though we were relatively poor, we always had plenty: meat and fish, as well as vegetables from our garden, and the jams and jellies Mother canned from fruit we grew on our property.
I’ve been an avid reader since I learned to read when I was four years old. My mother read constantly, and my five older siblings were assigned books to read which they usually brought home and discarded. I read everything, from The Five Little Peppers and Victoria Holt to Adam Bede and The Count of Monte Cristo. If mother didn’t want me to read a certain book, she put it on a top shelf, saying she would bring it down to my reach when I was old enough. I wrote because I wanted to provide readers with the escape that I found in books. I wanted to give flight to their imaginations just as those authors had given flight to mine. It was the only way I could travel to faraway places.
I’ve written seven books and helped to spearhead one anthology (three novellas and a short story) with three other authors.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Understanding Elizabeth is my latest solo book. I wondered what Mr. Darcy would do if he knew Elizabeth had overheard his remarks at the Meryton Assembly. I also was interested in exploring the idea of his having a choice, given by two supernatural beings, of reliving the incident and refraining from making the remark, or refusing their help and trying to win her on his own by acknowledging his fault. What would he do to get what he wanted? What was he willing to pay?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have to write and walk away to do something brainless, like taking a shower or vacuuming. Other ideas come to me, and I go back to my laptop to resume writing.
I also have several writing buddies with whom I brainstorm my stories and theirs.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
All of the works of Jane Austen, Victoria Holt, Georgette Heyer, Frank Peretti, and Ted Dekker.
Also Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Alexandre Dumas, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Orson Wells, George Orwell, John Steinbeck, Edgar Allan Poe, J. R. R. Tolkien, Agatha Christie, Louisa May Alcott, and C. S. Lewis
I confess to being a fan of the Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games, the Divergent series, and other YA fantasy/paranormal works. I read everything by Annette Marie, Tahereh Mafi, and Susan Ee that I can find.
What are you working on now?
More to Love, an Austen re-imagining in which Elizabeth is overweight. She overhears Mr. Darcy saying, “There is rather too much of her to tempt me.” On behalf of non-skinny girls everywhere, I will take up this banner. Ha! Thin people need to know how much their remarks bother the non-svelte. Sorry, but Mr. Darcy should suffer for his insensitivity.
I’m also writing a Regency romance featuring a girl from the Southern states of America in 1814. Her father inherits an English estate, and they move to England to claim it. Keep in mind that this was during the War of 1812.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I do quite a bit of promotion on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I would like to expand that to include sites such as this one.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. Don’t stop writing. Don’t let bad reviews discourage you.
Just. Keep. Writing.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Winston Churchill: “Never, never, never give up.”
What are you reading now?
A Christmas gift from my younger daughter – the Disruption books by Jessica Shirvington
What’s next for you as a writer?
After finishing and publishing my next two stories, I’d like to rewrite, update, and repackage my first series, The Guardian Trilogy. I hope to put all three books in one cover after I change several elements. I also have plans for another anthology. Our last one, A Very Austen Christmas was quite successful.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible (actually 66 books!), the Shatter Me series (so many layers), The Count of Monte Cristo (swoon), Penryn: The End of Days series by Susan Ee (fascinating)
Author Websites and Profiles
Robin Helm Website
Robin Helm Amazon Profile
Robin Helm’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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