July: Helen Phifer

Dear Reader,

Welcome to another ‘in the Spotlight’ for the month July, this time the interview is with Helen Phifer and I can’t fangirl enough about it. She’s such a down to earth author who communicates with her audience through Instagram. I can’t applaud it enough; it sure makes me feel special when I see Helen has liked or commented on something I’ve posted about.

First things first, if you don’t know who Helen Phifer is you need to go to a local bookshop or just go to amazon and BUY her books. If you’re a thriller girly you will love every single book she has written, believe me. If you love a good detective with paranormal vibes, you will absolutely love her ‘Maria Miller’ series which has three books. If you love all things witchy you could go for her book ‘The vanishing bookstore’ which plays out in Salem! Or, if you love a good and gory detective novel with humor, banter, same sex love and drama you will absolutely love her ‘Detective Morgan Brookes’ series which has 15 books and has more to come.

Helen lives in the busy town of Barrow-in-Furness surrounded by miles of coastline and a short drive from the glorious English Lake District. Her favorite hobbies apart from writing (obviously) include reading, going to Salem, enjoying time with her children and grandbabies and drinking coffee.

Let’s begin our interview ❤

Helen, I’ve read all the books you have written thus far, which are a lot! What was your favorite book to write and why?

Oh my goodness, thank you Cindy that’s a lot of books to read. It has to be The Vanishing Bookstore. I have adored the movie Practical Magic since I first watched it years ago and always wanted to write my own story about a witchy family of strong women. I had so much fun writing this story and visiting Salem where the book is set. I also did lots of research about the Salem Witch Trials, they were a horrific time in the city’s history. It was so wonderful to write about the English women and honour all those innocent victims of the witch trials.

The Morgan Brookes series is the longest ongoing series you are writing, do you think it’ll be concluded any time soon?

Hopefully not. Actually, I know there are no plans to conclude it at the moment because I think I’m contracted to write another five books and fingers crossed as long as my readers are still enjoying Morgan’s stories I’ll get to keep writing them.

Can you tell us what’s in the near future for Morgan? I know Ben would want to have kids someday… Has that time come yet?

I’m a little torn about this matter, Ben would love to get down on one knee and propose to Morgan so they could settle down and have children. I’m not sure how that would work out though for Morgan, she’s quite happy chasing killers and I don’t think she could do that the same if she had a baby. I definitely think a marriage proposal is on the cards though.

I absolutely love Morgan Brookes, with all the books in the series you’ve created quite the loveable team and a friendship where some people can only dream about. How did the connections come to live? What was the process for character building?

I worked in a tight knit community team at the police station, and I think a lot of their friendship is based on that. We had such fun inbetween the hard work and sometimes horrific jobs we dealt with, and I know that this has carried over into my writing. I think the characters have evolved naturally with each book, I always say writing is magic and I love how each character has evolved of their own accord.

I know that for ‘The vanishing bookstore’ you drew your inspiration from Salem, but what about your other books? What inspires you to write what you write?

I love true crime podcasts and documentaries, I also enjoy watching anything spooky, so I think a lot of my inspiration comes from those. I enjoy reading books that make me a little bit scared, and I always try to encompass that in my stories.

Will there be a sequel to ‘The vanishing bookstore’ or something different but witchy?

Yes, it’s going to be released next year, and I’ve literally just started writing it. This one will have some new characters, but it will continue the story of the English women because I love writing about them so much.

Can you take us through your writing process? How do your stories take shape?

I usually come up with an idea, something as simple as a sentence or a question that I ask myself and I go from there. I love to write all my ideas down by hand, there is something so lovely about using a brand-new notebook out of my huge collection and jotting down the ideas. I bullet point things I want to happen with the crimes, characters, setting, etc. Then if I have the time, I plot the outline of the story on little index cards. Sometimes though, I’m so short of time I wing it and just sit down and start typing.

The question I’ve been dying to ask is; Will there be another Maria Miller book any time soon?

I would love to write more Maria and Frankie, I have a wonderful editor who loves them too and keeps asking for more. So, while there are no more planned at this time, there is a chance in the future when things slow down a little that there will be another or at least I hope so.

Can you recommend 3 authors with the same kind of thrilling stories you write?

I love Jennifer Hillier’s books, she is fabulous and her thrillers always make me turn the pages so fast I read them in one or two sittings.
Kate Foster writes fabulous Scottish, historical fiction and I’m the same with Kate’s books. I read those in two sittings.
CJ Cooke is another favourite author of mine, I love her witchy stories.

What would you say to a reader that hasn’t discovered your books yet; how would you recommend yourself?

Oh, I’m not very good at this kind of thing. I would say if you enjoy a fast, thrilling, sometimes scary page turner then any one of my stories would hopefully be right up your street.

Helen has been delivering on fast pace thrillers. I have given all of them a 5 star rating because they are that good. If you aren’t familiar with her books, you should definetely check her out.

I really am fangirling over here; I can’t believe I had the opportunity to interview you for my website. Thank you so much for your time!

Aw, Cindy. You are amazing, I’m so thrilled to have the opportunity to answer your questions. Thank you so much for being so lovely and for reading and recommending my stories. It means the world to me.
Helen Xx