Meet The Characters

There’s No Such Thing As Humans is full of lots of fun characters. Meet all in the book!

Grub is a little monster with a big problem - he's absolutely TERRIFIED of humans, especially the one his brother says lives under his bed.

Puddles loves teasing Grub about being a scaredy-monster, but he has a secret... he's just as terrified of Humans as Grub is!

Our third and fourth characters are a pretty cute brother and sister pair. Ben and Charlotte are just as scared of monsters as Grub and Puddles are of humans!

Introducing the villain of the story - Edgar Ashworth, a wizard with a nasty spell in mind.

Finally, meet Harold. His pet humans - or owners as they insist on being called - are Ben and Charlotte.

Reading Ages of My Books

A few people have asked about the reading ages of my books recently, so here is the updated list. If you're looking for a gift recommendation for someone in particular, please feel free to flick me a message and I can point you in the right direction

Jenny No-Knickers - ages 0-7

Aunt Kelly's Dog - ages 0-7

Do Fruit Worry About Getting Fat? - ages 0-7

The Trespassers Club - ages 8-12

Underwater - ages 11+

Reactive - ages 11+

We All Fall - ages 12+

Broken Silence - ages 14+

Familiars and Foes - teens and adults

Symbolic Death - older teens and adults

If you’re in New Zealand, you can buy signed copies from me directly, or support local by through your favourite indie bookshop (even if they don’t have copies on the shelves when you go in, they can still order copies in for you).

If you’re overseas, you can find copies on Amazon or Book Depository.

The Final Ever YA Scavenger Hunt!

And the final YASH has closed! Check below to see if you were the winner of my giveaway.

Review - We All Fall, Large Print Edition

It’s always lovely to receive nice notes from readers, and I was especially pleased to receive this review of the large print edition of my book, We All Fall. I’m so glad vision impaired readers are finding these editions easy to read!

“We All Fall by Helen Vivienne Fletcher

Large print edition: Beautiful cover, perfect paper and font choice, these books were made for us.

This suspenseful YA novel will keep you guessing until the end. Set to the unusual backdrop of a circus, the characters are well-rounded and three-dimensional. The magical realism is woven throughout, held together with the literal thread of Myra's sewing and sequins. A mystical exploration of guilt, blame and responsibility. Great to also have a representation of disability intersecting with LGBTQ+ characters.”

- Jen from Wellington

Thanks so much, Jen! So glad to hear you enjoyed the story and found the large print edition easy to read.

The large print edition of We All Fall can be purchased from Book Depository and Amazon. Retailers and libraries can also purchase copies through the Ingram Group.

Lockdown Update and a New Book!

Hi all,
How are you all doing? I sincerely hope you and your families are all managing to stay safe and well.

It's been a couple of months since I last posted an update, and wow, what a strange time that has been for everyone! I'm in New Zealand, where things are comparatively pretty safe, as we have a strict lockdown in place. Because I'm immunocompromised, I was asked to start self-isolating early, which makes this about day 26 for me (I've lost track, like many of us).

As I live alone, it's just been me and my dog in our "bubble" for that 26 days. That was quite stressful at first, as I'm used to being able to access help with my disability/health problems when I need it, so I've been getting a bit creative to take my mind off things, and thought I would share some of the things I've been doing.

Cover Reveal and Launch - Reactive

Some of you may remember I was planning to release a children's novel this month. With everything going on, I've had to delay this, so I decided to bring forward launching my novella, Reactive instead. Making the cover for this one has been a great distraction from everything that's been going on.

A prophecy…
A new student…
A pot plant growing out of control…

One of these things could save Toby. The trouble is, which one?

When Toby arrived at this school six months ago, learning magic seemed like a dream come true. Now he'll be happy if he and his classmates just get out of here alive.

With teachers, other students and their own magic against them, will Toby and his friends escape from the dangers they face? Or will he be the one they need saving from?

The ebook is on sale for 99c at all ebook retailers now (the paperback and large print editions will be released later in the year.)

Reactive is novella length, with short, punchy chapters - perfect if your concentration span has been affected by the stress lately, and, like me, you've been finding it a bit hard to focus on reading.

Online Storytimes

I normally do fairy storytimes for a local bookshop on Friday mornings. While the bookshop is closed, we've taken these online, so if you have young children, or just enjoy children's books, you can find the videos on The Children's Bookshop Facebook page, with new ones being added every Friday. The page is public, so you should hopefully be able to view these even if you don't have an account. So far, I've read The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo by Elaine Bicknell, Jenny No-Knickers by me and Ian Garmonsway, and I'll be reading a book called Bella's Fringe by Marie Munro this coming Friday, New Zealand time.

I hope you and your little ones enjoy the videos. I know many parents are having a really tough time at the moment, so I hope this can bring you a few minutes of fun, if nothing else.

Creative Writing Classes

Finally, I've taken my creative writing classes business, Brain Bunny Workshops, online, and have been teaching distances lessons. With kids unable to attend regular school at the moment, there's been a lot of demand, and I'm currently fully booked. It's been so lovely being able to connect with kids, and help them express their creativity during this difficult time. It's also been great to see how well virtual lessons have worked, and I'm hoping to keep this option long term, especially for students who live outside Wellington and wouldn't normally be able to access classes.

That's all my news. Stay safe everyone. If you do check out Reactive, or my online storytimes, I'd love to hear what you think, and please do feel free to drop me a line to let me know how you're going.

Best wishes,
Helen

P.S. A quick request:

Reviews

Reactive was originally a part of the Realms of Magic project, which has now ended. If you read it there, could I ask that you please consider leaving a review either on the Reactive Goodreads page, or over on Amazon? This would be a HUGE help to me, in reaching new readers. Thank you!

Eligible Works from 2019

Nominations are now open for the Sir Julius Vogel Award. If you’re unfamiliar with them, the Sir Julius Vogel awards are fan voted awards for various endeavours in the science fiction, fantasy or horror fields.

Anyone can make nominations. Some awesome people in the spec-fic community have put together a list of eligible works, which you may like to consider. My book We All Fall is (to the best of my knowledge) eligible for the Best Novella or Novelette category.

YA Scavenger Hunt - Fall

And YASH has closed! Check below to see if you were the winner of my giveaway.

Spoken Word Video - Stick-abled

It’s Disability Pride Week! I collaborated with some very talented people to create this amazing video of my spoken word piece “Stick-abled”. I’m really happy with how it turned out - I hope you’ll give it a watch.

Coming Soon...

I’m so excited to announce my story Reactive has been included in the Realms of Magic boxset, launching on the 24th September!

Witches, mystics, dragons, dark fae, and bone women abound in this enchanting fantasy story collection featuring eight different authors.

In these short stories, you'll find not only chilling tales, suitable for cozying up with a cup of tea on a Halloween night, but romance, adventure, and redemption too.

With over 400 pages of tales, the Realms of Magic Anthology is sure to keep you up way past your bedtime.

This boxset includes the following stories:

A Marked Witch by Ashley McLeo
A Mystic's Choice by Kelly N. Jane
The Dark Season by Jaci Miller
Water Lilies and Bones by Tamara Rockiki
The Nutcracker Curse Prequel by Margo Ryerkerk
Blessed with a Curse by Katie Cherry
Samhain's Gift by Melania Tolan
Reactive by Helen Vivienne Fletcher

Coming 15th August...

We All Fall Cover

Myra fell from the trapeze, and then she fell in love. Which one will hurt her the most?

Something is not right at the circus. Since Myra’s accident, there have been an unexplainable number of falls, and a strange, hot wind whispering through the tents.

Then, a new fortune teller arrives.

Myra meets Giselle, the beautiful, blind, child fortune teller, who often speaks of spirits in a way which may or may not be a joke. Myra finds herself drawn to her, despite the fact that she doesn’t believe in psychics.

When someone she cares about becomes the next victim of the falls, Myra must face the unnatural cause behind them. Will Myra be able to save the people she loves, or will she be the next one to drop?

Available August 15th - preorder now!