Helen Hollick and her family moved from north-east London in January 2013 after finding an eighteenth-century North Devon farm house through being a 'victim' on BBC TV's popular Escape To The Country show. The thirteen-acre property was the first one she was shown - and it was love at first sight. She loves her new rural life, and has a variety of animals on the farm, including hens, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, Exmoor ponies and her daughter's string of show jumpers. First accepted for publication by William Heinemann in 1993 - a week after her fortieth birthday - Helen then became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am The Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Her Pendragon's Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she also writes a pirate-based nautical adventure/fantasy series, The Sea Witch Voyages. Despite being impaired by the visual disorder of Glaucoma, she is now branching out into the quick read novella, 'Cosy Mystery' genre with her new venture, the Jan Christopher Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her, often hilarious, memories of working for thirteen years as a library assistant. Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She also runs Discovering Diamonds, a review blog for historical fiction, a news and events blog for her village and the Community Shop, assists as 'secretary for the day' at her daughter's regular showjumping shows - and occasionally gets time to write...