Helly Acton

Currently away from Twitter • Author of THE SHELF and THE COUPLE - Out Now • @ZaffreBooks • Rep - @hayleyemmasteed • Insta - @hellyactonauthor

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

If love is a drug, why isn’t there an antidote? SO excited to share the cover of my new novel, THE COUPLE, which is out May 27th and available to preorder now - https://t.co/18Wcpnx49N 🖤

#TheCouple2021 #NewBook

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary @ZaffreBooks Thank you so much! 🩷

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary I am half-way through writing a new novel, but I can't tell you much about it. The only thing I'll say is that it's a pivot from writing about single life as a woman in the city and is all about motherhood and its various joys and challenges!

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary I guess I'm an open book! Also, if sharing some of my own challenging life experiences can help someone get through similar struggles - then I'm more than happy to do so.

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary I'd love readers to walk away from Begin Again feeling confident about the life choices they've made, happy in the knowledge they're exactly where they're meant to be and ready to embrace what might unfold in their future.

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary So I write the full story, then I go back and rewrite and rewrite to make sure that I'm injecting as much comedy as I possibly can - mostly into the dialogue. Dialogue is what I love to write.

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary I put a lot of planning into my novels. The first drafts are always a mess and mostly explore these themes in a more serious way than I want them to...

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary What I hope to achieve with all my stories is bringing important life topics to light - but with a lighthearted touch. I love the idea of making readers think about meaningful matters, but I also want to make sure they can laugh about them too...

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary Tom. His character is based on my own close friend, also called Tom. When I think of Tom, I think of sunshine, joy, cry-laughing, dancing on table-tops to cheesy music and being extremely silly.

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary And without giving anything away, she loses a close friend because the choices she made to get to that life means she never had the chance to meet them. This has a big impact on her final decision.

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary They also act as sounding boards for her, but instead of being neutral - they offer strong opinions that really make her question what she’s doing in these lives…

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary Her friends are also meant to represent different parts of Frankie’s own personality - and who she might be if she’d chosen differently. A mum in the suburbs, or a high flier, for example…

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary Crucial in so many ways. Frankie's friends make her question her life choices and they influence her decisions in the five lives she returns to...

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary So while I think we see Mabel becoming closer and warming to Frankie over the journey, her character doesn’t change much. She has to remain firmly on the fence so that Frankie finds the inner strength to finally make a choice and embrace the consequences.

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary Mabel is Frankie’s emotional and spiritual guide, but also a neutral sounding board for Frankie. She can’t influence her choices in any way, because it’s important for Frankie to make her own decisions and feel empowered by doing so…

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary Frankie’s so confused about what she wants that she’s stuck in a rut, refusing to make any choices at all. Because making a choice means committing to a path and she doesn’t know which one she wants to take.

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary Frankie feels like her friends are making these big adult choices and settling for an ordinary life. While she fears she’s being left behind, the lives they’ve chosen don’t appeal to her either…

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary Frankie doesn’t know what she wants - or should want - from life. She’s happy with her status quo - single and living in the city - but unhappy that no one else seems to feel the same way…

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary One of Frankie’s biggest fears is change, because change requires her to make a choice. Growing up requires a lot of both. Moving to the suburbs, having kids, getting a mortgage, climbing the career ladder…

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary But if I could go back to my biggest life crossroads and Begin Again, I wouldn’t. My good, bad and ugly experiences have made me who I am. Forty and far from perfect, but pretty confident that my past choices were the right ones for me!

[Helly Acton @hellyacton]

@ElthamLibrary Seven years ago, I was divorced and single in Sydney, spending most of my time at bars on Bondi Beach. Today, I’m remarried with two little boys, spending most of my time walking through farm fields in West Berkshire…