Did you ever have an itch you couldn’t scratch, a feeling that you’re supposed to be doing something else, something bigger with your life? Something that would touch the souls of the rest of mankind and justify your place amongst our fellow men, but you just couldn’t put your finger on what? I spent the best part of 40 years looking for the answer, and low and behold, I finished back where I started, with writing. I sometimes question why I didn’t just turn in the opposite direction, I would have got there straight away, but my path led me away from writing when I was just a teenager, because I lacked the confidence to pursue the dream. Reminiscing one day, the thought occurred to me that if I had found writing back then, I wouldn’t have taken the journeys that led me to write The Hidden Saga.
My name is Serina Hartwell. I’m the mother of two wonderful children, who grew up when I blinked. I come from an average size town in West Yorkshire, England. The same place where the Bronte sisters were born, and I am from the village in the mill town I write about.
Growing up in an industrial town, and coming from a working class background, I was surrounded by the mills, which were once the life blood of the community. Decrepit and falling into disrepair, they shadowed the place where I lived, serving as a reminder that our town once thrived. I watched as one by one, the mills went out of business and closed, serving to inspire my story, while changing the landscape around me.
My mother worked in the mills when I was a child. I recall every night, my father taking my brother and I to the mill to collect her and walk her home over the lonely beck-side. These trips along the shortcut are embedded throughout Hidden, as my childish imagination finally materialised on the page.
It was only recently that I found my way back to writing, when I suddenly found out that I was seriously ill. It’s funny how life has a way of bringing you full circle and offering you sharp reminders that time is slipping through your fingers. One moment I was fine and the next I was in a very bad place. Today you look upon the writing of one of the luckiest people on the planet, as I recovered and moved forward. Luck I intend to build upon. With doors closing all around me and my timely reminder, my life reached a turning point, I knew I had to find the thing I was supposed to be doing and get on with it. That’s when I really started looking.
In August 2010, I had the most intense urge to write. It came from nowhere, so I did the only thing I could, I borrowed my daughter’s laptop. I didn’t even know at the time if I could write. The last creative thing I wrote was at school. I didn’t know if I could connect with the page, let alone complete a book, but one thing is for sure, I haven’t stopped writing since, nor do I intend to. So, allow me to introduce you to my work. May I begin by introducing Bronte, in The Hidden Saga? I hope you enjoy Hidden and the many more to come.
Serina Hartwell – Author of The Hidden Saga
http://www.serinahartwell.com/
Goodreads Author
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8146251.Serina_Hartwell
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Calling all family, friends and followers – I’m doing my first industry event later today and wondered if anyone has any space on their page or website to share this post and help me promote my first ever book blast.
Hidden is my writing debut. It was released on April 15th through my publisher – World Castle Publishing and can be bought in more places than I ever imagined it would be.
It has been such an exciting roller coaster ride since launching Hidden – Book 1 of The Hidden Saga that I find my world has completely changed for the better. With my head still spinning at the speed of how things have progressed over the last couple of weeks, I am, in the interests of not letting the grass grow beneath my feet, about to embark on my first ever book blast at 2pm (USA time) and 7pm (UK) time today.
I will be online and available for a live chat, so why not come and join me at https://www.facebook.com/events/366529753488578/ and scroll through the page and see what’s going on. You can comment on any of the posts and even join in with the conversations and activities. Why not enter some of the competitions where you can win books from many different authors. I am giving copies of Hidden away and a signed copy of my first ever blog about my writing journey. Come join me and why not bring a friend.