Interview with Helen Fray
- 24 hours ago
- 4 min read
Tell me about your books
The Transcendent Series is about a girl (woman really, she’s 18/19 in the first book) who randomly, and rather inconveniently, body jumps into her past lives.
The first book in the series, Transcendent, came out July 1st this year! It contains a passionately fated but “doomed” love story, secret societies, real friendships, university settings, intrigue and the odd bit of violence, but don’t worry, her psychic abilities mean she’s more than able to take care of herself!
When and how did you start writing?
I suppose when I could first hold a pen. I was an insatiable reader, always fascinated by story and characters and other worlds, so as soon as I was able to, I started writing. Plays at first. Then poetry and songs. And finally, novels.
How does a story begin for you? Is it an idea, a conversation, a title, or an image?
I’m a people watcher. Someone once told me that all writers are, and that makes sense. I usually start with characters. For this series, I already had the character – Sarah – from another project that didn’t take off. The idea for the story came to me when I was on holiday taking a break from my kids and sitting by myself in a graveyard in Yorkshire (not so unusual for me, I find them peaceful places) and I saw a grave that I somehow connected with. The name was William Morris, or very similar, and I felt some kind of emotional reaction. I thought I should know him, but I didn’t. Strange, right? But it formed the basis for the book(s).
What inspired you to write this series?
The above, I suppose. But I was also really enjoying TV series’ with a strong aesthetic at the time, too, like Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars, and I wanted to write one. Pre this novelist era I’m currently in, I worked in TV on and off since I was a teenager, and scripts were my first go-to. Writing a novel was new for me. I saw the aesthetic of The Transcendent Series quite strongly. So I suppose it was everything combined.
What have been your greatest obstacles to overcome when writing?
My desire to lyrically write everything that isn’t dialogue, haha. As a writer I come from plays and scripts, as a person I read classic literature before I was a teenager and studied English Literature at University. Combining the two has been interesting at times.
What writing advice have you been given that really helped you?
Write like you. Write something you enjoy reading. That’s two bits of advice that have really kept me going. I got a decent amount of editor interest in this book series, but the advice I kept getting was to write more like [insert name of really commercially successful author here]… I didn’t want to change the way that I write, so I decided to self publish! The freedom has been worth it. Other people might disagree haha.
Did you learn anything from writing this book?
Not to indulge myself with poetic prose at any given moment, to stick to the story! And also to find your tribe. Your writing colleagues. Your friends. People who will give you advice and keep you going when it gets tough. If writing a novel was easy, everyone would do it. Its really not. You need help and support. I am incredibly blessed with mine.
What’s the best thing someone has said about your writing?
That they have stayed up late into the night reading it, and that they have read it so quickly, and are then demanding the next book! Some people have had to wait quite a while, and for that I am sorry! I can’t write as fast as people seem to want me to, lol
What advice would you give other writers?
To read, to watch plays and tv shows and films, to listen to music… Basically to consume story, emotions and character as much as possible, in all different forms. A great TV writer once said that to me, and I’ve never forgotten it.
What would you do if you didn’t write?
Spontaneously combust from all the pent up words and scenarios trapped inside of me? Probably drive my friends and family even more mad than I do now. I’d have a lot more free time. This could be dangerous. I’d probably take up cliff jumping or some other crazy activity to fill the hole.
What is your ultimate dream as a writer?
To create something that resonates with people. Some books and characters and stories stay in my head for a very long time, after occupying space there pretty solidly for the period I’m emersed in that world. To be the creator of something like that is pretty cool I think
What are your current projects? What should we be looking out for?
Transcendent, book one of The Transcendent Series, is out on the 1st of July (my mum’s birthday, as it happens), then I aim to get the second book in the series, Deviant, out before Christmas. I’m not committing myself to a date, haha, I get besieged with requests often enough as it is… The third book will come out in a similar timescale and then I guess it’s time to write something else! Or take up cliff diving. Time will tell.
Bio: Helen Fray is an author of Fantasy Romance books with unforgettable characters in life-or-death, secret society situations. She lives in Manchester, England, with her children and unpredictable, fluff-ball cat. She likes to put her English degree to good use, writing novels whilst relying on her editor to fix her commas. Transcendent, the first book in The Transcendent Series, features her favourite characters, Sarah and Nate, and the fantastical, body-jumping, psychic world of jeopardy that they live in.
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