Welcome Helen Chilcott to Love Romances & More. We are excited to have the opportunity to speak with you and learn more about your work. 

How long have you been writing; was it something you have always wanted to do?  

I always wanted to write, but had no clue how. As a teen I began a work, but literally after a dozen words I lost courage and had no direction. I didn't know that in years to come the Universe would ensure I made use of this latent talent. 

I see from your website that you have been through quite a bit from two terrible car crashes. How do you find that those experiences have affected your writing?  

Not car accidents, actually. I started writing in 1993 after the first of 2 major accidents off my Harley.  With a badly broken body I was confined to a wheelchair for months, and lost a lucrative career in business management. My marriage fell apart and most friends deserted me. With zero mobility in a 3 level house, all I could do was use my brain and one hand. I started writing and tried to reclaim my life as it had been. The recovery was slow and soul destroying.

Six years later, the second accident off the same bike ended my way of life. It came as a potent message from the Universe that I'd better buck up my ideas or something much direr would happen to me. I slowly crawled out of suicidal depression and got life back on track, but in a different direction. When I move, my damaged spine and body remind me how lucky I am to still be alive. I think the Universe is pleased with my new direction. It seems most things I ask for are granted. Since 1999, I've been awarded more good things than bad, including a new outlook, career and self development on whose path chronic pain and disability keep me focused. Writing is a major part of both this and my soul. 

Which is your favorite genre to write in, Psychological Thriller's or Erotica/Romance?  

I've always preferred psych thriller for its journey through the characters' psychosis, sociopathy or other disturbances. I resisted writing romance/erotica with the argument "I'm not erotic or romantic so why would I..." In reality I believed romance/erotica would not delve deep enough into the characters' psyche.  

Half way through my first erotic romance, which I wrote on a dare, the light bulb flashed overhead and I realized the journey is the same, it's just different disturbances. While I have completed 3 epic psych thrillers and only 2 romantica novellas, I will write more erotic romance.  

My WIP, Ten Thousand Brides, a story covering 8 1/2 centuries about a vampire's self-discovery and search for love, is a marriage of adventure, sex, lust, danger, legend, fantasy and more, in which love, sex and romance have an equal share with other elements. This work will likely become a trilogy as I've only covered the time period 1153AD to 1299AD and the existing word count is 101k. 

What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?  

I am 54, single with no intent to re-partner. My amazing life consists of running a successful business, eating, sleeping, worshipping my 3 precious Kitties, and writing.  When I'm too tired after a day's work to do much else, my main enjoyment is handicraft. I knit, crochet and sell the product, and have begun designing and making ankle jewelry. Apart from fine chains, nobody makes real ankle jewelry, so perhaps I've discovered a market niche. Each piece of my ankle jewelry is unique and is not just walking but running out the door as orders back up. It is an enjoyable and productive way of winding down after an exhausting day.  

I'm also making samples to test the market for girls' jewelry using glass beads and freshwater pearls. I think the name 'Little Pearls for Little Girls' is cute. Even when I'm in pain and exhausted, I need to be productive. 

Often a writer's first book is the toughest to write. Was this true for you? If so, what helped you get through it? If it wasn't the first, which one was the most difficult to write? The easiest? 

My first book, then titled Dark Secrets, helped me get through the post-accident life of pain, frustration, disability, grief and loss. When I found the motivation to write, my characters suffered my cruelty. Motivation came in bursts. I'd write tortuous hours at a time and then nothing for weeks. I have rewritten this work, now titled Last Flight from Pentagon, several times and will doubtless rewrite it before I launch it into the world.  

Although no work is easy for me to write, none has been harder than another. Because I am a single-minded, well focused perfectionist and my own harshest critic, I find writing's discipline easy now. I arrive at work early most days and write for 45 minutes before my first client. I write between clients, even if it's only 5 minutes. On my 2 days off, I write. I have a lady come weekly to do housework, so my precious recovery time isn't filled with physical chores which test my disabilities and pain threshold. I am enslaved to writing because it has helped me become who I am.  I hope I never damage my hands or brain because I couldn't stay sane without writing. 

How did you become connected with eXtasy Books? 

In 2006/2007 I signed 3 contracts with the now defunct Mardigras Publishing and had my first work released. In August 07 MGP's owner went dark, leaving over 30 writers fighting to reclaim our book rights. When I received their letter confirming my rights, a fellow Australian writer, who belongs to one of the writing groups with which I have membership and is an eXtasy author, told me eXtasy was open for subs. I subbed erotic romance novella Morning Glory. When eXtasy offered me a contract, I subbed psych thriller The Trunk in the Basement, and romantica novella Waiting for Misty. These works are also contracted to eXtasy. There is no comparison between eXtasy's professionalism and outstanding editors and my former publisher's slap-happy company. Can I say that without libel? I also learned heaps from my eXtasy editor. 

Do you usually outline your stories before you write, or do you "go with the flow"?  

A plot forms in my head, usually just the beginning and end. As I sit here I absorb the story from the Universe and my hands transform it to typed words. Between its beginning and end I have little idea where the story is headed. Only once have I veered so far off the plot I hated the work, and recognized that in 500 words.  

My style is to produce too much. Everything in my head goes to the page. I then 'pick it all up and toss it in a basket. At the end, I push the basket's lid on and all the excess crapola squeezes out the sides'.  

My fellow writers in the WritingRight group here in Oz, critique my posts and help keep me honest.  

Most authors are also avid readers. Is this the case with you? If so, who are some of your favorites? Have any influenced your writing?  

Before I began writing I read everything, usually in bed at night. Now, between my business and writing, I have no time to read. To make time, something else will suffer, and I don't want to stop doing anything. Wilbur Smith for his imagery and Stephen King for his downright spookiness has been faves. I've read Jackie Collins, Agatha Christie and too many more to mention. I'm a sponge for factual stuff, crime, forensics, true life killers. A few years back I even read the bible. All that did was mystify me more.  

My only quantity reading is the writers I mentor through WritingRight. 

Your characters come to life in your books. Do you feel each of your characters live with you as you write? Do their lives sometimes take over a part of your life? Can you name an example?  

I believe every writer's characters are from a part of the writer's life.  

Unlike a pencil or empty plate, I can't put a character down at session's end. Each character's traits live within my recall, from people past and present. They also comprise bits of myself, my senses, life experiences and emotions.  

My characters don't infiltrate my life. After 54 years' life experience, I value myself more than to let a character dominate the real me.  

I wrote the second half of The Trunk in the Basement in 'first person present' because of how the plot came about. Because it was my experience alone, I could not have written it in any other tense or person. That is as close as I intend to come to a character. However, when I write a scene I am there, feeling, seeing, hearing and smelling what is happening. I am a visual person and write best from the 'in the place and moment' perspective. There is more of me in my characters than of them in me.

Do you find it difficult at times to write love/sex scenes?  

At first I cringed writing sex. Because I'd never read sex, I wrote purple prose and sentence rhythm rather than literal description. My early sex scenes were more poetic than real. After enlisting the aid of a male writer friend, I was able to write sex from the male POV. I'd recommend this to any sex writer. After writing a lot of it I am now not squeamish telling it how it is. But I must take care not to make each sex scene a clone of the last. I developed more confidence after feedback from readers, telling me how my sex scenes titillated them.  

Writing love is a different matter. Because I've lived it I know what passion, jealousy, adoration, betrayal and all love's other elements feel like. I have no trouble writing love. Comments from Morning Glory's eXtasy editor provided reinforcement to my belief that I can write love well. 

Have you ever suffered from "writer's block"? If so, what did you do to get past  it?  

Because I don't believe in 'writers' block', I've never had it in 15 years of writing. I do believe it is good sometimes to give my artistic side a break and do something else. Disability bars me from physical pursuits, so I might go tweak some weeds from the garden, or sit in the sun and let it rejuvenate me.  

Whether I am at my lappie or PC or somewhere else, my brain and senses are always at work, listening for ideas, observing peoples' behavior, formulating incoming stimuli into scenes and characterizations. I don't have to be at the computer to write.  

When the women at work see me staring at a wall between clients, or with my eyes closed, they ask me if I'm tired or in pain. I respond, 'Just thinking of the best way to arrange this sentence,' or 'envisioning a person or place.'  

I have a survival philosophy that applies to things both good and bad, and is appropriate to 'writers' block': The more one imagines something happening, the more likely it is to eventuate.  

If you could write and be guaranteed publication of any genre of book, what would it be?

A mix of sex, passion, thrills, peril, love, disaster, fantasy, legend, reality...in short, the world as it is. Ten Thousand Brides has everything, and of the 5-and-a-third books I've written, I am enjoying this one the most. 

Are you working on anything right now? Can you tell us a teaser about these projects?  

So I can best focus on the work in progress, I complete one project at a time. 

My WIP is Ten Thousand Brides. Its opening 'chapter' says:   "He had ten thousand brides in a thousand cities, but after eight hundred and fifty years, still he hadn’t found true love." 

The main character, born a Nosferatu vampire, had no 'How To' manual to instruct him in life. While he responds to his instincts and rare lessons from his Mentor, his conscience prevents him from practicing his kind's heartless perversities. Although he expects some thanks when he rescues his Mentor from death, Lycan (Mentor) rewards him thus:  

As he reached the pit’s rim and climbed out, Lycan grunted like an old boar. “Gratitude withers on my lips, whelp. Instead, for affecting my rescue, I shall not kill you. Now we need flee Castel de Iadul before the Niktuku lord returns. On our exit from here, may our paths meet never again.”

“How I fare worries you not?”

“As a fish or snake with its fingerlings, Nosferatu do not nurture. There is no emotional heart in me, only an organ pumping my essence and feeding my primal instincts. Well you would do to heed, whelp, a heart shared is a heart exposed.”

Roen understood what Lycan meant. Trying to set aside his grief, he asked, “I know Nosferatu have the guise of man and wolf and can blend with nature to be unseen. How many suits can Niktuku wear?”

“An eternal educator I am not,” Lycan replied with overt annoyance. “My duty to see you to your first Bride is long done. Yours is to discover Niktuku’s many faces, none of which is pretty. Now irritate me no further with your chatter. It is better learned if experience teaches.” 

A huge part of me lies within Lycan's words.  

This work is not written in chapters but eras. It excites me so I couldn't bear to stop it and if I am honest, am not looking forward to its end. In TTB I voice my thoughts on many subjects and plan a 'chapter' on Kazikli Voyvoda (Vlad Dracul 111) and female circumcision. I have spent intense hours on research and have just completed de-weaselling the first 101k words. I am passionate about this work and hope its readers will be. 

Any final advice to aspiring authors? 

Know English, grammar, spelling, punctuation and computer skills that will help you to write.

Educate yourself about writing.

Never use friends and relatives as critiquers as they'll tell you it's sweet even if it stinks. An editor didn't once kiss your baby ass and teach you to say Mama.

Ask experienced people to critique your work, and observe what they tell you.

Join writing groups and learn how others write.

Get yourself a qualified Mentor.

Read an eclectic mix of authors and subjects you do and don't like.

Develop a unique voice and stick to it.

Be prepared to rework or start over.

Don't think people are just being nasty when they say they don't like your work. Instead, listen to their reasons. Every person who reads your work represents a potential buyer/reader and has a valid opinion, even if you don't agree with them.

Don't think of your work as your 'perfect baby', or you will never improve it.

Be your own critic. Be prepared to cut and not paste.

Don't permit word count to stand in the way of flow. You can edit/crop later.

Even if you've worked on a piece for 5 years, don't suddenly rush to complete it. Because your skills should improve as you work, rework the piece from the beginning when you've reached 'the end'.

Even if you write fiction about actual, you must research it. You can't make stuff up thinking, 'Nobody will know.' Guaranteed at least one reader is an expert, and if you've made stuff up without research, your work and you will lose credibility.  

Thank you so much for spending time with us at Love Romances and More. We wish you the greatest success in all of your future endeavors. 

 Thanks for the chance to talk to my audience and potential readers. To all erotic romance lovers, GO GET MORNING GLORY