Meet Helen Scheuerer.

Helen Scheuerer is a YA fantasy author from Sydney, Australia. ‘Heart of Mist’ is the first book in her high fantasy trilogy, ‘The Oremere Chronicles’. It explores themes of identity, belonging, loyalty, addiction, loss, and responsibility.

After writing literary fiction for a number of years, novels like ‘Throne of Glass’, ‘Elantris’, ‘The Queen’s Poisoner’ and ‘The Queen of the Tearling’ inspired Helen to return to her childhood love of fantasy.

Helen is also the Founding Editor of Writer’s Edit (www.writersedit.com), an online literary magazine and learning platform for emerging writers. In its first year, Writer’s Edit reached thousands of new authors, and soon became its own small press. It’s now one of the largest writers’ platforms in the world.

Helen’s love of writing and books led her to pursue a Bachelor of Creative Arts, majoring in Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong, as well as a Masters of Publishing at the University of Sydney.

Helen works as a freelance writer and editor, while she works on the second book in ‘The Oremere Chronicles’.

Author Links:
Website: http://helenscheuerer.com/
Prequels: http://bit.ly/2szZpYl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helenscheuererauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenScheuerer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helenscheuerer/
Goodreads Book Page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34865933-heart-of-mist
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9898249.Helen_Scheuerer

 

Guest Post – The Google Search History Of An Author

Pretty much every writer out there has stopped and considered their Google search history at one point or another… More often than we’d care to admit, we’re sitting here stumped, wondering if whether or not a search can send us to prison, or an offshore asylum.

After chatting with lovely Rae of A New Look On Books, we decided it would be fun to delve into some of the weird and whacky Google searches that have found their way into my browser history.

1. How hard is it to pull an arrow from a stomach?

That’s right, there’s no messing around here, folks. If it wasn’t obvious enough, I wanted to know how much resistance a person would feel when they tried to pull an arrow from another person’s stomach.

The puller was someone who wasn’t particularly physically strong, and so I wanted to be sure that it was believable.

2. Alcoholism withdrawal symptoms

If you’re familiar with my debut novel, Heart of Mist, you might be aware that my MC has an alcohol addiction. In order to make this realistic, I needed to make sure I was well-informed about the effects and consequences of addiction, which is how this search found its way into my history.

3. Poisons to paralyse

Am I sounding unstable yet? There’s a brief scene in Heart of Mist where a character ingests a poison that causes her to be temporarily paralysed. It’s a brief scene, but I did want to make sure I got the details right. However, in the end, I chose to invent a poison (it’s a fantasy world after all!).

4. Anatomy of medieval armour (and weaponry!)

With commanders, captains and knights throughout my book, this search was a must. And as someone who’s always had an appreciation for period-drama costuming, it was one of the more fun (and less morbid) searches.

My characters are generally decked out in medieval-style clothing: leathers, corsets, cloaks, riding boots and the like… Plus, there’s also a range of weapons in use – katars, battle axes, swords, and daggers. It’s really fun to get creative with these and get educated on the ways in which they’re used.

5. Best fight scenes in literature

As someone who’s never been in a physical fight myself (touch wood), I made it my business to read and watch epic fight scenes to pick up on the best moves. I made word pools for things like fencing, so I knew what terminology to use at the right moment.

There are a number of fight scenes throughout Heart of Mist, and this search was definitely done more than once throughout the writing process. I may have even taken to acting out certain scenes in my office, so I knew if particular maneuvers were possible or not!

 

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And these are just the recent searches! Who knows what I would have found in the older depths of my search history…

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve searched for? Why not share it with Rae and myself in the comments below!

 

Do you have Heart of the Mist yet?

Check out the details below!

 

Book details:

Heart of Mist released August 31st, 2017.
Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07556VD4Y/
Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0994165544/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36120100-heart-of-mist