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Amelie Woodford
THE BOOKS
I wrote my first novel, The Accidental Tyrant, in the first part of 2014. Having never written anything of such length before, I was a little dubious as I embarked on the task. I wasn't sure if I would find the time or commitment needed as I am a part time teacher and a full time mother to a demanding, and wonderful, toddler. I really loved writing it though! I immediately began writing my second novel, Romani Girl, as soon as the first was finished. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
The Accidental Tyrant
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The Accidental Tyrant is a work of science fiction. I came up with the idea for the novel one morning as I was driving into work. There was a thick mist hanging over the rolling hills on one side and the breath-taking sunrise over the sea to the other. I realised that I was driving, every day, over a wonderful setting for a novel. So I used my commuting time to formulate my ideas.
I feel this novel was influenced by much of my personal reading. Ray Bradbury's short story There Will Come Soft Rains, Mary Shelley's fascination with the human condition, H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds and John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, are just some of the works that helped my imagination run whilst exploring the concepts for this novel.
There are definitely similarities to the problems of Nazi Germany in The Accidental Tyrant, seen particularly through the character of Abram, and I read many translations of Hitler's speeches when writing. I was also inspired by Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller.
Romani Girl
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Hermione is a self-confessed 'ordinary' woman but starting a new job comes with a series of bad omens which spark her to embark on a journey which is anything but ordinary. She is quickly aquainted with a dark world of unsettled spirits and has to learn the grim history of spirits who suffered abuse in their former lives, the magical truth of her own heritage and learn to identify her own enemies.
For me, this novel has been influenced by the television programmes I watched in my teenage years, for example The Ghost Whisperer and Charmed but it also has many aspects that are autobiographical and based on my own family history- unfortunately, that history is without magical powers though!