I have been publishing since 1999, and over the years, have produced a wide body of work.
I began in journalism, writing features with a country flavour. I am now moving to fiction, and, while writing a novel, have had a number of short stories accepted for publication.
Here are some of the sectors, and titles, where my work has appeared.
Yorkshire Regional:
I am pleased to have been a contributor to Dalesman, Yorkshire’s favourite ‘little’ magazine, since 1999. During that time, I’ve had the pleasure to meet many of the people who make Yorkshire such a special place.
Yorkshire Ridings
Yorkshire Life
Crafts:
Craft&Design (formerly Craftsman)
For many years, I’ve been interviewing top crafts persons for Craft &Design, sharing their enthusiasm for their hands-on skills, and how they are inspired to make objects of desire for the British Crafts market.
“Popular Patchwork Magazine”
Country lifestyle, farming and food:
Countryman
Landscape
NFU Countryside
Country House and Home
Country Living
Country Kitchen
Country Smallholding
Fenland Goatkeepers and Smallholders’ Club
Home and Country
North East, County Durham and Cumbria:
North East Life
Durham Town and Country
Cumbria Magazine
Seasonal – Christmas
When you live in the English Countryside, you’re very aware of the changing seasons. Throughout history, people have marked these changes with festivals and ceremonies.
Such festivals include Mayday, Halloween, Plough Sunday, Candlemas, Bonfire Night, and so on – I’ve covered them all. But everyone’s favourite is Christmas.
I’ve written about Christmas celebrations in every era from the Anglo Saxon era to the modern day. But no matter what the times, everyone loves the chance to suspend the work-a-day world for a while, and gather with friends and family to eat, drink and be merry.
Fiction
In 2016, I began writing fiction. While working on my historical novel, set in 11th century Yorkshire, I also write short stories, some of which have been published.
Golden Clippings, an anthology by creative writing group Thirsk Write Now, is available as a paperback from Amazon , or as an Amazon Kindle e -book.
Crossing the Tees, The Third Short Story Anthology (for which I won a prize), is available from Sixth Element Publishing, at https://6e.net/product/crossing-the-tees-3-2019/
The Doodler, a short story was published in 2020 at online literary magazine Page and Spine.
God’s Own Country, a short story imagining the playing out of William the Conqueror’s good intentions, published in 2020 in Copperfield Review, since sadly closed.
Golden Clippings II, the second anthology from Thirsk Write Now, came out in 2020. It includes three of my short stories. Get a copy at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B084DGQJ27
In March 2020, I enjoyed my debut with The People’s Friend Magazine, the world’s longest-running women’s magazine. I was honoured that they also selected me as their Writer of the Week.
Reviews
In 2021, I became a reviewer for the Historical Novel Society. My reviews are published in their print journal, Historical Novels Review, and online, here. Read my reviews at https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviewer/helen-johnson/
Online publications
The Doodler, a short story, was published in 2020 in online fiction magazine Page and Spine.
The Man who Broke King Harold, a factual piece about Earl Tostig Godwinson, published in 2020 at https://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-man-who-broke-king-harold.html
God’s Own Country, a short story imagining the playing out of William the Conqueror’s good intentions, was published in 2020 in online Historical Fictional magazine Copperfield Review.
Writing about Writing
After many years of writing fiction, both flash and long form, I began to lead workshops, and write about writing craft. As well as features on my own blog, I have been published on the subject elsewhere.
I have written several ‘how to’ features for History Quill, a community to support the writing – and reading – of Historical Fiction. Read my posts at https://thehistoryquill.com/author/helen-johnson/
I also lead online writers’ craft workshops for the writers’ group Promoting Yorkshire Authors.