Writing Series - Why set a novel in Thailand?

Not all authors always loved English or writing. I hated it! I was an avid reader enjoying everything I could get my hands on to do with horses and stable management. But creative writing myself, no. My spelling was atrocious and my imagination was minimal. I may have day dreamed a little but all my dreams or creative thought was bounded by logic and reality.

Helen with her pony

I did feel I was artistic and loved painting but the logical side won out throughout my childhood, into my teens and influenced my choice of degree and career. I am now a General Manager of an IT services company.

Back to my childhood and the other piece of advice I was given. One day I was having a very stressful riding lesson, not stressful riding but not riding well because I was stressed. My instructor teased out of me that I was stuck on an essay I had to write for English homework. My logical brain wasn't allowing expansion to creative thought and being too literal. Listen to last weeks first episode of 'The Story Behind My Story' podcast for more on this story - here https://www.helentaylorauthor.co.uk/story-behind-my-stories-podcast/season-1

The advice she gave me that day, changing my view of creative writing forever, was “Write what you know”.

She explained writing is easy when it's something you know. If you write what you're passionate about and if you write what you have experience of then it will just come. Lightbulb moment for me!

The thought of writing creatively once I left school never cropped up again until I found myself at the start of a year in Thailand.

Listen to Episode 2 - 4 of 'The Story Behind My Stories' podcast to find out how I got there and why a year. But I was there, laptop in hand and ready to start writing my first novel.

Sticking with the advice I told you about in last weeks blog, and the piece of advice in this blog post and sat in a hammock in Thailand with this view:

View from my bungalow

It had to be a murder mystery (write what you read) set on the island of Koh Pha Ngan as that was exactly what I was about to know for the next year!

Enjoy the expansion of this in this week's podcast episode of 'The Story Behind My Stories' and have a good week.

Love Helen x