“Although I had over twenty romantic novels published by twelve different publishers, had won national awards I had lost my way somehow.”
When author Helena Dixon found herself out of enthusiasm, it was understanding the genre of her new story idea that helped her break through.
My personal writing crisis began to come to a head in 2016. I’d been conscious for a while that the fire for writing, the passion for telling stories that had always driven me had been dying.
I’d had a difficult number of years both personally with health and family issues. In my day job, changing one challenging career path for another one in end stage dementia and palliative care and in my writing.
I was without an agent, and out of contract. Several of the publishers who I’d worked with previously had closed their doors or were in the process of closing. Worse still, although I had over twenty romantic novels published by twelve different publishers, had won national awards – The Romantic Novelist’s RONA Rose twice and international awards I had lost my way somehow.
My writing had virtually ground to a halt. I needed to take time out to restock and rethink. I had one story that I kept returning to. I would open the file, look at it and close it again. It wasn’t a romance, it wasn’t a mystery. It didn’t know what it was and neither did I.
Then, I was talking to a writer friend about it and it hit me. It was a cozy mystery and it was in the wrong time period. I opened the file again, scrapped a big chunk and started over in 1933. Murder at The Dolphin Hotel came to life along with ideas for a full series.
I sent it out to various places, garnered nice rejections and wondered if this was it. I was wrong, perhaps my skill set didn’t lie in this direction. Then I got a request from an agent and an offer to publish from a respected mainstream publisher. I contacted the agent who had the full manuscript and she sent Murder at The Dolphin Hotel to auction.
Fast forward to now and I’m represented by Kate Nash and very happily published by Bookouture. Murder at the Dolphin Hotel topped the charts in Canada and Australia and book 4 in the series, Murder on the Dance Floor was published on 28th October this year.
Helena Dixon splits her time between the Black Country and Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010 as Nell Dixon. She now writes historical 1930’s set cozy crime.
About MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR:
Kitty Underhay’s dance card is full… of death.
November 1933. Amateur sleuth-cum-dutiful granddaughter Kitty Underhay stifles a sigh of boredom as she attends the annual Hoteliers’ Association Dinner and Dance on behalf of her grandmother, the proprietress of the Dolphin Hotel. She hopes the company of ex-army captain Matthew Bryant will enliven the otherwise dull evening. That is, until bullish and overbearing local councillor Harold Everton drops dead into his bowl of consommé. While the local police are still scrambling for their whistles, Kitty and Matt waste no time leaping into action. Soon they find themselves caught up a dangerous search to uncover who amongst the distinguished guests used cyanide for seasoning?
A fast, fun and utterly unputdownable Golden Age cozy murder mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey and Lee Strauss.
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