Helen Gaskell Loves Writing Romantic Fiction
About this episode
Helen Gaskell discusses her journey into writing romantic fiction and the genre's significance.
Love is in the air, when Helen Gaskell joins us to talk about writing rom com novels. She shares the story of her accidental path to publishing — from writing a fan letter to a mobile game, to landing a deal with just 10,000 words written. Helen reveals the surprising structural discipline behind the genre, and passionately defends romantic fiction as a misunderstood feminist art form, arguing it offers sophisticated social commentary and genuine emotional comfort. Her debut, The Regency Switch, is available now from HarperCollins. Guest Bio Helen Gaskell (she/her) is a freelance lead content designer based in the UK. After ten years at the BBC as a content producer she now works on GOV.UK projects and has spent time at over a dozen central government departments. Most notably, she worked on the first public-facing AI-driven project for the Foreign Office, and wrote the UK government's guidance on AI for services. Links The Regency Switch: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-regency-switch/helen-gaskell/9780008769574 Helen’s author website: http://helengaskellwriter.co.uk/ Helen’s design website: https://www.helengaskell.co.uk/ Credits Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
People in this episode
Host: Guy Segal
Guest: Helen Gaskell
Topics covered
- romantic fiction
- writing
- publishing
- feminism
- social commentary
Keywords
- rom com
- publishing journey
- feminist art
- emotional comfort
- structural discipline
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: HarperCollins, BBC, GOV.UK, Foreign Office
Products: The Regency Switch
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