Hélene Fermont — MEET HELENE FERMONT: SOME FAVOURITE THINGS

Get to know Scandi author Hélene Fermont as we chat to her about her writing process and what inspires her to write her strong character driven novels…

JK Rowling worked on Harry Potter in an Edinburgh café, Dylan Thomas liked to write in a boathouse in Wales, George Bernard Shaw had a rotating hut (so that he could follow the sun while he wrote) … where do you work and why?

I mostly write at home in London but when I write in Sweden, I write in Malmo which is my birth city. I always go to any places where I can sit completely isolated from people, which is very easy in that part of Sweden – especially if you pick a time when people don’t visit these places.

I go to Limhamn harbour a lot too. I lived there with my family from the age of eight until my late teens when I moved to London. So it’s a place I feature a lot in ‘Because of You’ and the main protagonist, Hannah Stein originates from there. This is an area I absolutely adore; it’s so beautiful and has got such unspoilt scenery. I find it’s a very tranquil place to write and I get a lot of inspiration from that; I can listen to the birds singing in the air and I can look at the boats bathing in sunshine on the water.

[caption id="attachment_202" align="alignleft" width="614"] Hollandia Cafe (L) and Limhamn Harbour (R) (Photo of Limhamn taken by Ahmet Bekir)[/caption]

Another place where I love to write is a café called Hollandia but again I have to pick a time when there are not many people there. And the third place I love to write in is the Western Harbour which is home to Scandinavia’s largest building; the Turning Torso.

So I love these places but I’m not the kind of a person who can sit in a place surrounded by a lot of people who talk and socialise because I will lose my train of thought.

I love to write where I’m basically secluded because I’m very character driven and when you’re character driven as an author you really need to find your space. And I know a lot of Scandi authors feel the same. When I write in London, I write in my office which is in the same building as where I live. I can sit for hours on end and write; I just enter a different world.

Is Google your friend, or procrastination’s? How do you approach research?

Like most people, I do need Internet access. I’m not technical, so in a way I don’t really like it, but I have to use it to communicate. Otherwise I try to keep away from it as much as I can, so it doesn’t really take up my time.

What I do instead when I research is to take a trip to Sweden and look at the old, sort of sacred, places and I walk around and I talk to the people there and that’s really how I do most of my research.

Obviously, as I don’t permanently live there, I have to update myself on what’s happening there: there are new buildings, the area is changing and of course the culture is too - there are problems in that part of Sweden and all over the world now with all kinds of bigotry – so I have to look into things like that and make sure I am up to date and understand the current situation in the country.

What I use the Internet for is to make sure that the facts I give in my book, for example places and areas and locations, are accurate. But I find that a personal approach is much better than the Internet because you get so much more out of it.

Agatha Christie had a special ledge on her bathtub where she kept paper and pencils because she felt she had lots of great ideas in the bath. Is there a place where ideas come to you?

I get them early in the morning. I keep a notepad next to my bed, on the bedside table and it drives my partner mad because I switch the light on, get up and start writing things down. When I’m really in the midst of a story, which is usually in the middle and towards the end of the writing process, that’s when all the thoughts really come to me. They just flourish in my mind. So yeah, I keep a notepad there but the ideas can come to me wherever; when I’m in the car picking up the children, when I’m walking, in the shower. Any time really.

Hilary Mantel advises any writers who get stuck to go for a walk. What activity helps you when you’re stuck?

Do you know what? I never get writer’s block. I never get stuck; I don’t know that feeling! I’ve just completed my second novel We Never Said Goodbye and not once was I stuck. I think I wrote it in about six to eight months. Because I’m so particular I wrote six or seven drafts. With Because of You I did 14 drafts but that was a much bigger book – so no, I don’t really get stuck.

[caption id="attachment_190" align="alignleft" width="360"] My favourite sofa - a good place to relax and get inspiration![/caption]

However, I can lose my train of thought at times so when I deal with that, and because I’m so character driven, I find that if I can’t give a character enough flesh and bone I need to take a little bit of a break. And then I take a break from the whole thing for a couple of days and leave it to rest and usually the inspiration comes back to me.

If you could have only one, would you rather BECAUSE OF YOU was made into a movie or an HBO or NETFLIX series?

I think that Because of You would make a really nice drama, because of the characters and everything that happens, and because there are so many strong themes. It is very character driven. So that’s the first thing that comes to mind, a feature film length drama. But other people have said it would be a good TV drama series. I love the way both HBO and Netflix take risks with new dramas and I’d love either of them to pick it up. They aren’t afraid to tackle difficult issues – and Because of You has some dark, challenging themes.

If you could choose any actors, alive or dead, from any period of their career, who would you cast and who would you like to direct a movie version of the book?

Alicia Vikander is a lovely, lovely actress and would be good as Hannah. As for director, I would love Pernilla August to direct it, she’s just fabulous! I think a female director should direct it – whether it’s TV, film, or even theatre. It would be lovely if people really loved the book and one day it was adapted for the big screen. What a dream! Pernilla August is incredible, so I’d definitely want her on-board. She is also an actress and has worked with Ingmar Bergman so I’d also love for her to play a part as well as direct. She would be fantastic. If I could realise that dream then I would definitely go for these two ladies.

[caption id="attachment_206" align="alignleft" width="422"] Pernilla August (L) and Alicia Vikander (R)[/caption]

Would you like to write the screenplay yourself or do you think it’s better if a fresh pair of eyes works on it?

No, I’m not a script writer; I’m really just an author. I would love to be involved if there’s ever going to be a film or TV drama because the book and the characters are my babies, and my heart and soul went into this book. This book is so special to me for many reasons so I’d like to be involved but I wouldn’t want to do the script, that wouldn’t be my thing at all.

How do you think being bilingual influences your writing?

The characters in Because of You are Swedish, British and American. I lived in America for a few years and now live in Britain and I am Swedish - so I can go into the frame of mind of each character.

The Swedish characters talk in a certain way and the British talk in another way and the Americans in yet another way. So for me, being bilingual helped in this situation because I can get into the mind of Scandinavian people and I understand the cultural difference. So, I believe being bilingual is an asset.

Interestingly, even though Scandinavian languages don’t have as many words as the English language, sometimes it’s easier to express something in Swedish than English! There are more descriptions in the English language but I find that Scandinavian languages are very emotional and can describe things in a different way with simpler words.

The reason I chose to write in English is that my English is at least as good as my Swedish (perhaps even better as I have lived here so long!) and I wanted to reach out to a wider audience and don’t really want my book to be translated into English - because I can do that myself. But there are times when I find it a little difficult because certain things can be said more easily and in a more elegant way, in Swedish – but of course I had to find a way to do this in English.

I think in English when I’m writing in English but the funny thing is that I switch and think in Swedish when I write all my Swedish characters, and then think in English when I write my British and American characters.

Overall, I feel that it’s actually quite easy to write in English because there are so many different ways to describe something. For example, in Swedish we don’t have different words for ‘destiny’ and ‘fate’. I know it’s a subtle difference – but in English that is important.

Bringing a novel to publication is a process that involves feedback from a number of people – how easy is it to hand over something you’ve worked on for months?

I never show anyone anything until I’m happy and satisfied that I’ve done my best. So with Because of You I did 14 drafts. I always have a premise for a story but it takes me months to create and develop the characters, because I feel I have to get them just right.

With Because of You I always knew the main focus was going to be on one protagonist, Hannah. I wanted to look at what happens when you put people in a situation they can’t control; what happens to a person who is loved and pure and has a sense of worth? And then the opposite, a person who isn’t loved, isn’t essentially decent, and has very low self-worth. What happens to these two people? How different is it? How do they impact each other and do they cope with being out of control?

[caption id="attachment_170" align="alignright" width="325"] Because of You covers some dark themes[/caption]

Hannah and Vanessa are very different characters. First I create the characters and then I have the premise of the story. I write the first draft in longhand because the coordination of movement between the hand and the brain makes it easier for me to get into the flow of my line of thoughts and the words come out much easier. Yes, my wrist aches! Then I transfer it onto the computer and then I just start to write. And I write the whole draft without doing any editing whatsoever, then I look at it and start editing, write a second draft and so on. I don’t show it to anyone until my editor looks at it and gets back to me with feedback. So I never show it to anyone except my editor until it’s absolutely ready.

Are you going to read your reviews?

I have to, don’t I? To me, what matters is what the readers think. I assume people will react differently to the book but I don’t really worry about that. However, if something comes back to me repeatedly regarding my writing style then I have to take that on board because I have to develop as an author. Constructive criticism is always useful. Also, I trust what my editor tells me – so writing is also a listening process. I can’t tell you here and now that I’m not going to get upset – I may get upset from time to time, I’m only human – but I’m not going to worry about it because I’ve chosen to let Because of You have wings and fly and there’s nothing I can do about that now.

Because of You by Hélene Fermont is available from Amazon and all good bookshops.