My first novel, The Silk
Romance, is published!
Hi Lorrie,
and thanks so much for having me on your blog.
It’s lovely to be here with so many established authors.
I still find
it hard to believe I can now call myself a published author. It’s a great feeling! J
Since my
first novel, The Silk Romance, was published, many people have been asking
me where I had the idea from for the story.
There were a couple of things that prompted me to write this book. First of all, the setting. My story is set in the beautiful city of
Lyon, France. As a student, I spent some
time in Lyon working as an au pair, in order to improve my French. (And believe me, there’s nothing like looking
after small children to improve your language skills!)
The two
children I looked after – a girl and a boy, aged three and twelve months – were
delightful. Every day we’d go out for a
walk together in the gorgeous French sunshine, and I’d buy them some fruit from
the market or an ice cream. I really got
to know the city well on our walks. Lyon
has a long history as a centre for silk-weaving, and when I sat down to write
my first novel I decided to make a silk mill in this beautiful city the
setting.
My novel is a
sweet romance, and I wanted to give the story a fairy tale quality. One of the fairy tales I love most is
Cinderella. I love the idea of a neglected
heroine being given the chance to have the evening of her life; of a young girl
falling head over heels in love with Prince Charming, and then having to run
away and leave everything behind. It’s such
a romantic story. This was the premise
for The
Silk Romance. I updated the
story, and put it in a modern setting, with a gorgeous French hero.
~~~~~~
Here’s the
blurb:
Jean-Luc Olivier is a devastatingly handsome
racing-driver with the world before him.
Sophie Challoner is a penniless student, whose face is unknown beyond
her own rundown estate in London. The
night they spend together in Paris seems to Sophie like a fairytale—a Cinderella story without the happy ending. She knows she has
no part in Jean-Luc’s future. She made her dying mother a promise to take care of her father and
brother in London. One night of
happiness is all Sophie allows herself. She runs away from Jean-Luc and returns
to England to keep her promise.
Safely back home with her father and brother, and
immersed in her college work, Sophie tries her best to forget their encounter,
but she reckons without Jean-Luc. He is
determined to find out why she left him, and intrigued to discover the real
Sophie. He engineers a student placement
Sophie can’t refuse, and so, unwillingly, she finds herself back in France,
working for Jean-Luc in the silk mill he now owns.
Thrown together for a few short weeks in
Lyon, the romantic city of silk, their mutual love begins to grow. But it seems the fates are conspiring against
Sophie’s happiness. Jean-Luc has secrets
of his own. Then, when disaster strikes
at home in London, Sophie is faced with a choice—stay in
this glamorous world with the man she loves, or return to her family to keep
the sacred promise she made her mother.
~~~~
And I absolutely love the cover to my
novel, which was designed by artist Charlotte Volnek. I think it has just the right feel, and the
heroine has a lovely fairy tale quality to her.
I hope you enjoyed reading the blurb to
my first novel. If you’d like to read
on, The
Silk Romance is available here
in the Muse bookstore, and from Amazon, Kobo
and all major retailers.
And if you’ve enjoyed my post, please call
in on my blog: www.helenafairfax.com,
or on my
Facebook page. You can also email me at
Helena(dot)Fairfax(at)gmail(dot)com. I
love meeting people J
Thanks again for having me on your blog,
Lorrie. It’s been lovely to meet you and
your readers here.
~~~
It's been fabulous having you here today, Helena. Your novel certainly has quite an appeal. When I think of romantic Paris, I see sidewalk cafes, the Eiffel Tower looming in the background, and lovers walking hand in hand. Oooh, dream on, Lorrie. Ahem, I digress.
Did I tell you readers that we love comments. Let's welcome Helena to the novel publishing world. Give her your thoughts.
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