About
I hung onto the dream of being a writer for years…
I was born in Brighton, UK, and love living near the sea. My mum signed me up for a library card when I was six weeks old which made me, at the time, Brighton Library’s youngest member!
The Library
I went to the library every Saturday morning with my Mum… to change my books and have a doughnut in the library café and by the age of seven I was sure I wanted to be a writer.
The Garden Shed
I wrote my first full length book in my garden shed, which my dad decorated for me, at the age of eleven. It was inspired by The Hobbit and set in outer space and my teacher at the time encouraged me to send it to a publisher! I think that was the first time I really believed that one day one day I would see my stories turned into real books.
Sadly, my outer space hobbit story never made it to print… but I still have the typed up version my Grandmother helped me put together. I hung onto the dream of being a writer for years and I also hung onto all the started stories and abandoned books I have written since that first story in my garden shed. I believe no ideas are wasted and I am always on the lookout for a good story!
Becoming an Author
As a student I volunteered at a boarding school for deaf children at Brighton Deaf Centre. I also had lots of rather unusual jobs until I finally got to work in a bookshop.
Then at University I met my fabulous husband! We were on the same course but I knew he was the one for me when we began to talk about books!
After university, we both got jobs in the same school… which happened to be the largest Junior School in Europe at the time. It was a place full of stories! As well as being a teacher there, and Head of English and then eventually Assistant Headteacher, I was always working on my writing. I’ve changed my idea about lots of things as I’ve got older; hairstyles, fashions, but never my ambition to be an author.
Hidden Stories
After having our wonderful daughter Meggie and taking a break from teaching I got more serious about getting published. I took an MA in ‘Creative Writing Education and The Arts’ at Sussex University and I began to write my first book series Secret Breakers. It was accepted by the first publisher who saw it but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have lots of other story ideas rejected beforehand.
I love to write about the real world… with a bit of a twist. I believe stories are hidden around us waiting to be discovered and so although everything I write is set in the here and now, there are always links back to stories, mysteries, myths and legends from the past. I write adventure books and I hope they can be enjoyed by readers from the age of 9 to 99!
For even more information check out the FAQ and About pages on www.hldennis.com
I love to write about the real world…with a bit of a twist.