Author Hannah Fielding

Hi all!
Please help me welcome Author Hannah Fielding to my blog today!

What is your name? Do you use a pen name (if so, why?)?

I use the pen name Hannah Fielding. The ‘Hannah’ is a tribute to my father, who always encouraged me to write, who told me that one day I would be a published author, but who passed away before he could see my dream come true. His name was Hanna – I just added the h at the end. I prefer to use a pen name because my given name is Egyptian and is less easy to pronounce.

Tell me a bit about yourself.

I was born in Alexandria, Egypt, a city founded in the year 332 BC by order of Alexander the Great, a Greek king of Macedonia. The rambling house I grew up in was built on a hill facing the Mediterranean, commanding the most breathtaking views of the ever-changing sea, with its glowing sunsets and romantic moonlit nights overlooking a scintillating ocean.

I went to a convent school, and after I graduated with a BA in French literature, my international nomadic years started. I lived mainly in Switzerland, France and England, and holidayed in other Mediterranean countries like Italy, Greece and Spain. I met Nicholas, my husband, in London at a drinks party: it was love at first sight, just like in the romance books that were my constant companions. We settled in a Georgian house in Kent where I brought up two children, Christian and Alexandra, while looking after horses and dogs and running my own business renovating rundown cottages.

My children have now flown the nest and my husband and I spend half our time in our Georgian rectory in Kent and the rest in our home in the South of France, which overlooks the Mediterranean.

What type of genre do you write?

I am romantic, passionate and imaginative, therefore I write romantic novels, set in the wonderful locations that I’ve visited around the world. I choose a period that falls between the ’50s and the ’90s, which is slightly out of the normal categorisation. This posed a dilemma for Omnific Publishing when publishing my debut novel, Burning Embers. In the end, we settled upon contemporary historical romance as the genre.

What genre do you personally read?

I read almost anything; but I mostly read romantic novels (the thicker, the better). I also enjoy reading mystery books, psychological thrillers, books about customs and traditions in various countries, books of quotation and dictionaries.

Tell me about your latest book.

Burning Embers is a contemporary historical romance novel set in Kenya in 1970. It depicts the developing attraction and love between a young and naive woman, Coral, who has come home to Africa, the land of her birth, and Rafe, a handsome, virile, commanding plantation and nightclub owner who carries a dark secret heavy in his heart.

It is an evocative and passionate story of coming of age, of letting go of the past, of having faith in a person and of overcoming obstacles to love, set against the vivid and colourful backdrop of rural Africa and its culture.

What sparked your passion for books and the art of a good story? 

Stories and writing have always been part of my life. My father was a great raconteur and my governess used to tell the most fabulous fairy stories – I could listen to them for hours. When I was seven she and I came to an agreement: for every story she’d tell me I would invent one in return. That is how my passion for storytelling began.

At school I consistently received first prize for my essays and my teachers often read them aloud in class. As a teenager I used to write short romantic stories during lessons and circulate them in class, which made me very popular with my peers (but less so with the nuns!). In addition, since a young age I have kept some sort of a diary where I note my feelings, ideas and things that take my fancy (or not).

My grandmother was a published author of poetry and my father published a book about the history of our family, so writing runs in my veins. I guess I always knew that one day I would follow in those footsteps and forge my own path in that field – a subconscious dream which finally came true.

Is there a particular book that changed or affected your life in a big way? 

As I have said above, people more than books have influenced my life. Still, I think that my French education had a large influence on my style. My style is descriptive because that is what my French education gave me and that is what I like most to read. I am careful to use the right word and I am always looking for the nuance that will best describe what I am trying to put across. This is largely due to the rigorous training of my French education. The nuns at my school, and later my teachers at university, were very strict about style.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

Yes. First of all, don’t listen to malicious gossip; instead listen to your heart and be your own judge. Secondly, let go of the past and look to the future; there is always a new dawn offering opportunities which might pass you by if you are not looking.

  

Do you see yourself in any of your characters?

All of the main female characters I write have a little of me in them. I think you write best when you write about what you know. In Burning Embers, Coral is very naive, and this element was based on my own naivety as a young woman. I was very protected as a child growing up in Egypt, and the big, wide world was something of a surprise to me when, in my early twenties, I began travelling!

Do you feel like your dream has come true or is there much more to do?

There is always more to do. Still, I feel that I am on the right track… Now, I just need to follow my star.

What does your workspace look like?

In my home in Kent I write in a wood-panelled room, surrounded by books – we call it the library. In France I write looking over the most fabulous Mediterranean view from a large picture window. I really can’t complain.

Who is your author idol?

My real idols are the French classic romantic authors of the 19th century that I grew up with. I devoured their books during my teens and still re-read my favourite stories and poems. Victor Hugo, Theophile Gautier, Balzac, Stendhal, Chateaubriand and Leconte de Lisle, to name just a few.

(I'll have to check them out!)

I enjoy reading many modern authors, but maybe the one closest to my heart is M.M. Kaye, author of The Far Pavilions and The Shadow of the Moon. Why? Because her fabulous descriptions transport you to a time and a place as if you are there and then. If you have not read her books, I do recommend them… pure escapism… pure romance. See http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1040250.M_M_Kaye.

Have you ever had a day when you just wanted to quit?

I don’t much enjoy the process of editing and sometimes that gets me down.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I have many hobbies. Reading is my favourite; I am an avid reader. But I also love cooking and have an extensive selection of cookery books from all over the world with which I love to experiment. In particular, I like using home-grown ingredients. I entertain family and friends; hosting dinner parties is a lot of work but immensely rewarding. Once a month I have a Discover a Country’s Cuisine Night for family or friends, when I cook a three-course meal featuring the specialty of a given country.

When I have the time I indulge in antiquing, rummaging in markets and bric-a-brac shops. I travel whenever possible, and wherever I am I take nature walks; I especially love to walk along the beach, as I grew up by the Mediterranean and the ocean feels like home to me. I travel not only to research my books but also because I love to meet new people; and of course I entertain both in my home in Kent and my house in Ste Maxime on the south coast of France.

What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?

Tenacity, faith and a good dose of sense. You need to continue to write whether you think your work is good or bad. There is no bad writing. There are good days and bad days. The more you write, the better at it you get.

Did you have a moment when you realized you were meant to be a writer?

Writing is in my blood; it was always going to happen. The question was when, never if.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

·       First and foremost, write from the heart. Be true to yourself and don’t compromise to please the market. Markets change, fads come and go; your work will remain.

·       Research your facts thoroughly. A writer today has no excuse for not getting his/her facts right. Use all the tools available to you. Travel, internet, books, films, documentaries: they’re all there to enrich your experience and make your writing journey easier.

·       Plan your novel down to the smallest detail. This will make your writing so much easier and therefore so much more enjoyable. A plan is your map. Would you set out on a long journey by car without a map?

·       Read, reread and reread. Edit, edit, edit. Go through your manuscript again and again and edit it. I know that it will break your heart to delete a phrase or even one word you have spent time agonising on, but sometimes less is better than more. Not easy advice to follow, but in the long run it does work. If you can leave the manuscript alone for a few weeks and revisit it at a later date, reading it as if it were someone else’s, then that’s even better.

After this book, what is next?

I have written a number of books and I have been travelling extensively, searching for new pastures in which to set my future novels.

I have written a passionate, fiery trilogy set in Andalucia, Spain, spanning three generations of a Spanish/English family, from 1950 to the present day.

I have also just finished writing a touching, deeply romantic novel that takes place in Venice and in Tuscany, Italy in 1979/1980. It opens with the Venice Carnival that has returned after a cessation of almost two centuries.

I still have many books in me. I am now in the process of researching my next historical romance trilogy, which is set in Egypt and will take my readers from 1945 to the present day.

I so enjoy researching these books (what better excuse to visit Venice), and they are in the pipeline for publication in due course. I very much enjoy the publishing process and hearing from readers of my books. But for me, being a writer is not about publishing. It is simply about writing – writing from the heart the books that I most want to read. As the great American writer Toni Morrison said, ‘If there’s a book you want to read and it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.’

Website and blog?

I am always happy to hear from my readers. You can find me on:

Website: www.hannahfielding.net

Twitter: @fieldinghannah 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fieldinghannah

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5333898.Hannah_Fielding

e-mail: fieldinghannah@yahoo.co.uk

Where can your book be found?

Burning Embers can be found online in paperback and ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Foyles and WH Smith, and it is available in good book shops.

Please help me thank Hannah for joining us today! She's given me a great insight to new authors. Hope you check out her websites and book!

Keep Writing!

Jodie Pierce