Bringing ancient civilisations to life in a historical novel - Helena Barnard

Writing The Past

In this episode, we chat with Helena Barnard, whose debut novel, ‘A Painted Winter’, has just been released. It tells the story of two Pictish brothers who conspire with the Ancient People from beyond the Great Wall to attack the Romans. Helena was born in Australia, and she now lives in northern England at the foot of Hadrian’s Wall.

We’ll find out what inspired Helena to write historical fiction, and we’ll discover her path to releasing her debut novel with an independent publisher. She’ll also describe her writing and researching process, including what it’s like to write about a civilization that we know very little about.

Helena’s book ‘A Painted Winter’ is available everywhere books are sold. If you’d like to keep in touch and follow her historical fiction journey, you can catch her on Instagram under the username @helenareadsandwrites.

Timestamps

(0:20) - Introduction

(1:34) - Helena’s favourite historical figure

(2:44) - How Helena’s historical fiction writing journey began

(5:00) - The inspiration behind her novel ‘A Painted Winter’

(7:10) - Researching and writing a civilisation that didn’t record their own history

(9:40) - “Research rabbit holes” and filtering out what’s important for your book

(11:21) - Fitting writing around a full-time job

(13:40) - Transitioning to becoming a full-time writer

(16:03) - Signing a contract with an independent publisher

(17:02) - Dealing with constructive criticism and navigating the editing process

(19:45) - Helena’s second book in the series

(20:26) - Advice for historical fiction writers who are looking to publish with independent publishing houses

(21:57) - The most important element of a historical fiction novel

(24:13) - Wrap up and a teaser for Episode 4