by Nadine Holland, author ‘Hallie and the Broken Ghost’
There are some common themes within my writing that seem to crop up time and time again. They muscle their way in like a desperate shopper at the Boxing Day sales whenever I’m plotting and planning, whether I want them to or not. In my latest book, paranormal middle-grade adventure ‘Hallie and the Broken Ghost’, the theme of moving is not only the catalyst for the rest of the story, but it also provides the bubbling undercurrents of resentment, transience and fractured friendships that are explored within the book.
The reason that this theme sits so noisily within my mind is because I lived it. At 11 years old, halfway through year 7, and just about settled in my new daily routine of walking up and down a particularly steep hill in Plymouth (one of many but at least this one went past a shop that sold penny sweets – RIP Pengelly’s), I was suddenly whisked away from my friends and family to live in a place that as far as I knew only existed in a nursery rhyme about a soggy doctor.
“The reason that I’m sharing all of this is because my experiences enrich my writing.”
Everything changed. As a shy and bookish kid who’d had the same friends since nursery, I was suddenly the new kid, in a new school, in a new house, in a city far from the one I had known since birth. Predictably, I had trouble adjusting. I tried to make friends, I really did. I invited a group of them to my house one Saturday and the spent the morning tidying my bedroom, plumping pillows and preparing snacks… and no one came.
For a while, I felt like a victim of circumstance. I had no control over the situation. I mourned my lost friendships and I was living in a house that still had yellow-stained walls from the previous cigarette-smoking owners. This victimhood mentality persisted for a while, another theme that popped up in ‘Hallie’, but eventually I adapted.
In the end, I grew to love my new school. It was much smaller and I was finally a big fish in a small pond rather than a minnow in an ocean as I had been previously (I loved it so much that I ended up teaching there for eleven years, but that’s a story for another time). I made firm friends, two of which I still regard as some of my closest friends today. I grew to love my new city and moved back here after University.
The reason that I’m sharing all of this is because my experiences enrich my writing. Regional writers, such as Stephen King, often base their stories in their hometowns so that they can weave the tapestry of the lived experience of a physical location into their work. Dialects, locations, landmarks and local history all help to develop a broad and believable backdrop for their books. I like to do the same, but with life experiences. Moving had a profound impact on me, least of all because it made me realise that home, to me, was not truly a place, but the people within it. It has enabled me to pull from the well my initial thoughts, emotions and fears which lend Hallie more credence as a character.
As someone who has mainly focused on picture books, I knew that to write a middle-grade story like ‘Hallie and the Broken Ghost’ I would need to tap into these experiences. They helped to develop characters that felt three-dimensional with all the complex emotions to go with it; so I pulled threads from my own life to knit them together.
So, if you’re struggling with ideas for plots and people, then your own personal history is a wonderful place to start.
About ‘Hallie and the Broken Ghost’
A frighteningly funny adolescent paranormal adventure by Nadine Holland.
Hallie Collins is moving again, but the new house hides more than mould and maggoty birds: this new living arrangement comes with an unexpected resident – a broken ghost, who’s not your typical, spooky apparition. Instead of spine-chilling scares, this spectral presence is accompanied by nervous farts, rendering his haunting attempts hilariously unsuccessful.
Hallie is determined to help her new spooky sidekick, and so begins an extensive training programme to hopefully alleviate this unique condition. Little does she know, however, that beneath the cellar of her new home lies a buried secret waiting to be unearthed; a treasure which attracts the attention of a devious archaeologist with a penchant for arson, threatening not only Hallie but everything she holds dear.
In order to foil the machinations of this despicable foe, Hallie comes up with a dangerous plan that will rely on fixing her newfound friend. But Hallie will stop at nothing to help her unlikely new companion and uncover the truth – even if it turns her world to ashes.
Join Hallie on a whimsical and heartwarming adventure in Hallie and the Broken Ghost, filled with courage, friendship, and unexpected allies. Will Hallie’s determination end up being her downfall, or will she uncover the key to mending not only her broken ghost, but also saving her new home?
Hallie and the Broken Ghost is a heartwarming adventure packed with charming supernatural silliness.
About Nadine Holland
Nadine grew up in Devon in the era of leg warmers, cassette tapes and scary public information adverts. The world baffled her a bit and so she preferred to bury her nose in books and one day dreamt of becoming a writer herself – mostly so that she would finally know enough words to beat her Grandad at Scrabble.
However, life had other ideas, and Nadine became a secondary school art teacher instead; where she has spent well over a decade promoting exploration, creativity, and trying (and failing) not to get paint on her clothes.
After her daughter was born, Nadine was drawn to the vibrant and playful world of picture books, and although she had dabbled in poetry, blogging, and flash fiction, it was in children’s literature that she finally found a home for her unquenchable urge to write.
Nadine writes smart and funny rhyming picture books and middle grade novels that explore themes of the paranormal, mythology, and folk lore; because that’s what she was obsessed with growing up. She hopes to inspire the next generation of curious children who dream of things that exist beyond the normal.
She lives in Gloucestershire, surrounded by magical hills and ancient forests, where she lives with her husband, her daughter, two silly cats, and a dog with giant ears.