AS the medals mount up in at the Olympic Games in Paris, one York author is celebrating clinching a literary equivalent.
Helen Reynolds, 50, from Holgate, beat more than 400 entries from 23 countries to win a prestigious gold medal for the first chapters of her as yet unpublished novel.
The founder of Ink Gardener Copywriting by day, Helen says she is crafting a series set in the turbulent years following the Civil War.
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She spent her teenage years near Scarborough and Pickering and credits York and North Yorkshire as having as having a huge influence on her writing.
“Walking through Shambles, Stonegate and the snickelways of York as well as exploring the timeless North York Moors and Yorkshire Wolds really helps me step back in time," said Helen.
"Perhaps the most spine-tingling moment so far in my research was witnessing the Battle of Marston Moor memorial ride troopers in their 17th century uniforms. Seeing them ride up to the monument on the battle’s anniversary was a very special moment.”
Helen’s swashbuckling thriller follows the English resistance’s newest spy who is desperate to strike back against the Parliamentarians who murdered her father and executed her king.
But when her first mission ends in disaster, Lady Audette Miles must team up with an enigmatic Royalist agent to stop an assassination that could destroy their fragile cause forever.
“I’m absolutely delighted to have won Best Historical Adventure,” said Helen.
“I’m hoping this recognition helps push my novel Spyissima across the finishing line towards publication, so more people can learn about this fascinating historical era.”
She has been invited to attend the award ceremony taking place next month at the Historical Novel Society’s conference in Devon.
Key speakers include Bernard Cornwell, author of the Sharpe and Uhtred novels, and Outlander creator Diana Gabaldon.
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