Helen Fields has come to her novel writing career the long way round. From her early days making up stories to keep herself entertained to a career as a barrister, the mother-of-three turned away from the bar to join her husband’s media company.
There, she worked on script writing, branding and film-making before taking the leap into writing fiction full time.
“As a mother of three my day is split between getting words down and crisis management,” she jokes, adding more seriously that; “My husband gifted me the time and space to give it a try, and now I find myself with several books under my belt and still going. I’ve been luckier than most. I have a lot of experiences to drawn upon for my books, and my three different careers have all been fulfilling, challenging and rewarding in equal measure.”
Childhood story-telling
As a child, she sought solace in telling stories to herself. “I used to pass the time, create alternative worlds to live, and make myself a different person. Telling ourselves stories allows us to become our own hero.,” she points out. “It’s a useful skill to rewrite unhappiness into a tale from which you can be rescued or turn into a fairytale. It’s definitely when I learned to world build. It’s probably also when I got in touch with the darker side of my nature, and I’m still pouring that out into my books now. That was possibly more honesty than I should be sharing!”
Now, she is drawn to crime writing and is fascinated by criminal psychology. She certainly loves the idea of drawing her readers into a gripping tale: “I like making people gasp,” Helen enthuses. “I like making them miss their bus stop, and stay up way too late when they have an early start.”
“The reality is that writing crime just suits me,” she confesses. “I’ve written a legal thriller as well, Degrees Of Guilt, in the name HS Chandler, and it’s equally dark and shocking. The reality is that I was meant to write the sorts of books that make you check you’ve locked your doors before bed. I’ve given writing other genres a go, but I’ve always killed off a character by the end of the first chapter. I’m afraid this is just me.”
Her latest novel, One for Sorrow, has a dual timeline. There is a bombing campaign for DI Callanach and DCI Turner to investigate with echoes in a past failed relationship and miscarriage of justice. “Both aspects of the story join up at the end where everything comes together. As a lawyer I saw first-hand what happens when justice isn’t done in really traumatic cases. It can be as devastating as the crime itself.
“I saw an opportunity to put all that emotion into a book. DI Luc Callanach is a complex character who obviously had a lot of growth, and that’s what you need in a series. DCI Ava Turner is the version of me I always wanted to be. She’s irreverent and passionate, always knows what to say, and sticks to her guns. I think all writers end up forming characters who are new and improved versions of themselves.”
Scottish settings
Set in Edinburgh, One for Sorrow makes the most of its location, “Edinburgh could have been invented solely for the purpose of setting books there,” she says. “It’s not just the architecture. It’s timelessness, history and natural beauty. Edinburgh is one of the few cities where people don’t look down at the pavement when the walk. They look up. It’s so rare, to look around us in the place where we live, yet in Edinburgh you just can’t help yourself. It’s alive and vibrant, and it has a beating heart. Edinburgh is the single most important character in my books, without a doubt.”
Scotland will remain the setting for future projects too, with a novel based on the Isle of Mull and featuring a Canadian private investigator due out later in the year. “2023 will see my first hardback come out and I’m writing that at the moment,” continues Helen. “In that book I return to a past character I wrote about in The Shadow Man, who is a psychological profiler. There literally aren’t enough hours in the day right now.”
One for Sorrow by Helen Fields is available now, £7.99, Avon.
