Warwick author takes her knowledge from antique dealing and screenplay writing to create her debut novel

An author from Warwick has taken her knowledge of antique dealing and screenplay writing to help her create her debut novel.

Helen Brady fell in love with writing when she completed her first degree at the University of Warwick as a mature student in 2000.

She discovered she had a talent for storytelling. From there she took a Masters in feature film screenwriting and went on to develop a number of original screenplays with producers.

During this time she was awarded places on three UK Film Council funded scriptwriting initiatives and was given bursaries to work with professional script editors.

One of her favourite scripts was The Fabulous Zoo - and in 2016 her screenplay was shortlisted for the Rockliffe BAFTA Children’s Media drama award.

Having spent time with her characters, Helen decided she wanted to take them further - seeing them with the potential to grow up and have more adventures.

She was invited to join the Writing West Midlands, Room 204 writing initiative in 2019 and took some steps into literature by first writing short stories before tackling the novel.

Helen Brady has been a life-long avid reader, starting with fairy-tales, folk tales and children’s adventures, and progressing through Biggles, her brother’s Superman comics, to science-fiction in every format, and on to historical novels, Arthurian literature, and Tolkien. It is this gradual accumulation of British folklore, fantasy adventures, and history that has come together as The Fabulous Zoo.

Her knowledge of social history comes from a previous 25 plus year career as a self-employed antiques dealer handling all manner of household items from the 18th and 19th century – and a ten-year spell as an English Civil War re-enactor with the Sealed Knot.

Helen said: "I draw my inspiration from the huge panoply of legends and folk-lore available in the English language and is an admirer of the writings of Alan Garner, Bernard Cornwell and J R R Tolkien.

"Since going to university I have a penchant for non-fiction books on a wide range of scientific, cultural, critical and history studies."

‘The Fabulous Zoo’ is Helen's debut novel and the first of a proposed series of five about Rag and Boyd and their travels beyond the Veil.